Our Beautiful Brides (and bridesmaids) Slaying Their Natural Tresses!

It's been too long since I did a bridal post so I have decided to do a long overdue one - bringing us up to speed on all our gorgeous brides (and bridesmaids in some instances)

Meet Jennifer - gorgeous bride with simple tastes. She had a train of 5 and we helped style them all!

Caring For Your Hair While In Crochet Braids.

Curly crochet braids - had just washed and conditioned my hair underneath.

It's no news that crochet braids have come to stay!!! Whether short, long, kinky, straight, twisted, braided; the possibilities seem endless and have given us ladies an amazing alternative to regular braids and weaves.

Now one of the great things about crochet is the fact that you get to wear some gorgeous styles that keep for longer than regular braids. Why you may ask? Well for instance as a naturalista, if I got my hair braided with regular extensions, by the 4th day, my kinks will start showing through the texture of the extensions, and by the end of week 1, what once looked nice and fresh will be looking like a hot mess.

With crochet braids, because the hair is first woven down and then the extensions crocheted on top, the hair is well hidden underneath and doesn't start to come through - meaning you can wear the hair for longer.

An example of what the hair looks like underneath the crochet style

Afri Naptural Definition Braid - The best feeling hair yet!!

Because of the business I'm in, I'm always on the look out for extensions that not just look as natural as possible but also FEEL great. During one of such hunts, I came upon this Afri Naptural Definition braid which is 100% Kanekalon, modacrylic fiber.

It states it's benefits as:
- Soft Human like texture
- Light weight
- Full of Volume
- Hot Water Set Styles
- Tangle Free
- Flame Retardant
- No Irritation
- Finger Friendly
- More Defined Braids
- Versatile

I got a few to test out and I was definitely impressed!! The hair is soft, DOES NOT TANGLE, and looks so much like a blow out on natural hair that I got so excited at the styling possibilities!!

Some Of My Favourite Hairstyles From December And January!

I can't believe how quickly January has gone by!! Goodness me! Next thing you know, we'll be saying Happy Easter then it will be Merry Christmas again!! I'm more motivated than ever to pursue my goals with greater intensity!! Truly, time will pass regardless of whether you're utilizing it or not.

So! January went off to a great start and I just wanted to share a few of my favourite hair styles crafted in the salon , with you!

So first up is this lovely young lady I like to call my 'muse' loll. My hands and her hair get along so well. From time to time, she'll come to me and ask for 'one of my styles' and once my hand gets in her hair, it's so easy creating something we both love.

Her inspiration for this was this updo I'd done on Osemhena a while back.

So I modified it a little and these are the results!

Second up is this yummy mummy who came on the recommendation of her cousin. She doesn't live in Nigeria and she says she always has to sort her hair out herself as she can't seem to find natural hair salons where she resides. When her cousin spoke to her about KL's she decided she'd try it out.

Now her hair is long and thick and fluffy (that's the best word to describe how her hair felt honestly) I thoroughly enjoyed playing in her hair. Decided to give her a Jumbo Flat Twist updo so she could get both eye catching style and longevity. She left with happy smiles!

First Protective Style of The Year - Crochet With Havana Mambo Twist.

In light of the fact that I'm continuing with my protective styling this year, I decided that after about 2 weeks of deep conditioning and moisturizing my hair while it was out; it was time for it to go back into hiding.

It took me a while to decide what exactly I wanted to do - which is quite strange for me. I'm usually decisive about what I want to do and will plan like 3 - 4 styles ahead of time. For the last couple of days, I lined up Finger comber Hair, Afri Naptural Reggae braid and marley bulk hair on my bed and kept contemplating on what look I was going for.

At the last minute I decided I was going to get Havana Twists by crocheting the Havana Mambo Twist hair ( which wasn't one my initial choices by the way lol) Once that was decided, I chose the shade I wanted (sort of an Ombre Burgundy) and was good to go.

Faking an Afro With Bulk Marley Hair.

Sometimes you just want to wear a fabulous Afro and not have to worry about whether you have enough volume, the shrinkage that is bound to come and over manipulating your hair. At times like that, Bulk Marley Hair is an absolutely fantastic go to!

It creates a voluminous afro (you can make it as big or as small as you want) and you can style it in various ways while keeping your own hair away.

Bulk Marley Hair comes in different lengths (the more popular ones being 24 and 36 inches) and you don't have to worry, these measurements mean when the hair is stretched and not when it's in its shrunken state.

Of Quick Length Checks and Bad Crochet braids.

Crochet braids and this lovely dress I fell in love with and had to share :)

So remember I'd told you in my last post that I had a story to tell about my crochet braids? I shall be telling it today but first of all a quick length check.

So this was my check back in February:

And this is my length check from September

I'd had a trim in April so I think overall, I've been pretty good with my regimen and retaining length too.

At the end of the year,  I may stretch my hair and (gasp) flat iron it and then get another trim. Looking forward to what my overall health and length retention will be like then.

Back to my crochet story. So I was travelling for a bit and needed to put my hair away as I'd had it out for about a week. On a whim I bought some hair at my local supermarket, deciding I wanted to go for a big blown out afro look. I had it crocheted in and it was looking quite BIG lol.

Working With Dionne Smith - International Hair Stylist extraordinaire!

Phew!!!! The last 4 days have been something else. I am so knackered but so excited and happy at the same time! So the 2015 Beauty Africa Expo came by and it was definitely bigger than it was last year - a lot more stalls and products on display; more workshops with professionals giving invaluable advice and in some cases hands on practical tips; more topics were also included in this year's edition.

I got invited by Design Essentials to work at their stand and of course I jumped at the opportunity. International Hair Stylist and Educator for Design Essentials Dionne Smith was going to be showcasing 3 hairstyles for Naturalistas and how could I miss the opportunity to learn! So I happily got myself ready and went off to Eko Hotel. When I got in, 2 of the models had already been prepped so I got started on the third model and did a basic cornrow updo leaving the top undone for the live demo.

Rocking Some Harlem 125 Durban Twist Hair!!

I came across this hair during one of my usual Instagram haunts - saw it on this lovely lady @kiitana and the thing that I liked immediately was the natural curl pattern. It already has that twist out look without you  having to go through all the trouble of twisting/rodding and then dipping in hot water.

After searching through her comments, found out it was something called Harlem 125 Durban Twists and made my merry way to purchase some!

As I've been playing with color recently, I decided on something bright and beautiful :) and settled on this color  RT33V which is basically red with black roots.

One Crochet Install, Three looks!

So I've been rocking my latest style for a little over 3 weeks now and I got to wear it in different ways. For the most part, I wore it (semi) wild and free; once I got a little tired of that, I decided to curl it for a different look.


The first day I had it installed, it was BIG as in it was HUGE lollll. It was just under 2 packs of hair but still looked quite fierce.

Yea it was crazy hair loll

Half wild and half blow dried

 Once I got home that night I got my blowdryer and proceeded to tame the mane. After I'd done that, it lost a lot of its volume and I thought it was a little flat so a couple of days later, I added about another pack of hair to fill it out, then I used my blow dryer again on the newly installed portions to even it out and loved the look!

Are those braids? Did you do 'brush' in front? It looks so different!! - My latest Crochet Style is getting questions!

So! After almost 2 months of wearing wigs, I was tired and needed to put the hair away in something that I wouldn't have to worry about for some time to come. Remember my Afro wig I'd blogged about earlier? Well I'd worn it till it was crying for mercy!

Then I also bought a few others when I was away in April/May but only got round to trying one of them - a curly blonde/brown wig that I loved upon sighting in my favourite Beauty supply Store in London (PAKS).

Anyway, after rocking wigs for that long, I decided I'd get some crochet braids (what else lol) in. I had bought these pretwisted packs of hair in Atlanta and seeing as I hadn't gotten braids in a while, what better way to revisit them than by combining my favourite look with my favourite technique!!!

....And I'm back in Protective Styling!

Channeling my inner Diana Ross 'I'm coming out! I want the world to know, gonna let it show! lolll

Phew! As much as I love pampering and caring for my hair, as it's gotten longer and thicker my arms have started to ache anytime I'm detangling, styling etc lol. I had planned to keep my hair out for 2 weeks maximum but because I wanted to try out a couple of new D.I.Y things (which I've brought to you) I ended up leaving my hair out for close to a month! No bueno! This year is supposed to be about protective styling for the most part.

Anyways, of course my go to style at the moment is crochet braids and that is exactly what I got! I've been wondering what big hair would look like on me so I planned on getting crochet braids with Marley hair but not doing anything with it (at least not immediately). We'd just taken delivery of some really soft Marley Hair called 'Jamaican Braid' and I knew it would be perfect for what I had in mind.

So I got hold of some, and cut the length into 2 so that I would get some sort of layered look going. Braid pattern was one going all back and the hair was installed pretty quickly. Used just 2 packs of hair and this is the result!

Finally Got My Crochet Braid Game On!

After my last failed attempt at getting my crochet braids in, I finally got to do something I love! So I'd been seeing some lovely looking twists on Instagram  with hair from a brand called 'xpress your kinks' and after seeing this  YouTube video by Jessica Pettway, I KNEW I had to get the hair! Check out their website here

After doing some research, I settled on buying 3 packs of hair - 2 packs in the color 'Darkest Xpresso' and  for highlights, 1 pack in 'Chestnut'. I had someone in the States place the order for me and send them down to me.

Darkest Xpresso

Chestnut with the Darkest Xpresso

 As soon as they came, I wasted no time! lol Crochet braids don't take long to do once you know what you're doing so I hijacked one of my girls in the salon and got to work. I wanted a side part so she braided my hair accordingly and then crocheted the hair using small strips of hair at a time.