Ahhh….That’s More Like It

Hey everyone! I hope your day is going by lovely! I just came to show you guys what that shrunken twist out looks on day 2 with a little bit of stretch.

Ok, I lied. A lot of stretch. This is pre styling, so don’t judge me, lol. I just wanted to show you guys the amount of stretch I get with banding.
If you’ve never heard of banding, you better ask somebody! It’s a really simple way to get that shrunken twist out, braid out, or whatever to show more of your true length.
The concept is very easy. You “band” your hair by putting ponytail holders or rubber bands (i suggest ponytail holders) around the base and the length of the hair. You can put as many as you need. I use a lot.

Attractive, I know.

But that’s it. You put your bands on and let it set for as long as you want ( I let it set overnight), and wake up in the morning with hair stretched to capacity.

I went from this

To this

Now, I do have to warn you, you lose a teeny bit of definition, but for the length and fullness you gain, it’s so worth it. Also, the hair will be dry after banding overnight, so it will be tangled and not pliable at all. So it’s in your best interest to moisturize before you band or after. Walking around with dry hair is not attractive. What you do after banding is up to you! You can rock a cute updo, wear a twist out, or whatever. The possibilities are endless.

Until next time,
Mandisa

Shrink City!

Hello all! I hope your week is going lovely! If it’s not, don’t worry, the weekend is coming! I’m here today to show you guys my very first (shrunken) twist out being 100% natural! Exciting! Here it is!

I achieved this twist out rather simply. I did this on dry hair, but HAD to dampen the hair with water from my spray bottle. My hair HAS to have water to gain any kind of definition. After dampening the hair, I flat twisted my hair the way that I wanted it to lay. For example, I wanted the two front sections to lay forward, so I flat twisted them to the front. I didn’t count the flat twists, but I probably made around 10-12. After flat twisting, I twirled the ends around my fingers.
I think that flat twisting is the way to go for me. That’s the only way that I can achieve the body and definition without separating and having to risk frizz.
Now unfortunately, its really shrunken. However, I will be stretching it overnight using one of my favorite methods. I’ll be back tomorrow with the results!
Until next time,
Mandisa 🙂

Creme of Nature Argan Oil Perfect 7

Hello guys! Happy Hump Day! I hope it’s a great one! I’m coming to you guys today with a product review of the new 7 in 1 leave in treatment from Creme of Nature’s new argan oil line. There’s been tons of buzz on this line from a lot of naturalistas in my corner, so I had to try it out for myself. I entered way too many contests to count trying to win this product, but as you all know, I am not patient in the least. So I bought it.

Description: Perfect 7 is a 7-N-1 leave in treatment mask for beautiful healthy hair with exotic shine. This product is perfect for all hair textures and gives relaxed, natural, and color treated hair instant health and beauty while reducing the need for multiple hair care products. The innovative rich, creamy formula contains Argan oil from Morocco, and conditioning agents such as, Pro-Vitamin B-5, Silk Amino Acids so you can achieve shinier, smoother, and silkier hair.

Seven Amazing Benefits for Your Hair
Detangles and Conditions
Heat Protection
Breakage Defense
Controls Frizz
Moisturizes Dry Hair
Prevents Split Ends
Adds Exotic Shine

How To Use
Spray all over damp hair and comb through. Do not rinse. Style as usual.

So, I picked this up from my local Walgreens for about $10, along with some other hair products that were necessary. (All hair products are necessary for me.)

Upon first use, I was surprised to see that although this product comes in a spray bottle, it’s not a spray. This product shoots out as a creamy concoction. The smell is alright. It’s pretty perfume-y, and once applied to the hair, the smell will stay for a couple days. Also, when applying the product, gaining control of the bottle is tricky. Since the product is kinda thick and on the greasy side, it can get hard to spray it out.
But girls.
Girls.
GIRLS.
That is where the cons END for this product! This right here?! For me, magic in a spray bottle. Seriously. I’ve used it more than once, and I love it more than Kanye loves Kanye.

Detangling and Conditioning: I’ve used this on wet hair and dry hair, and it helped detangle both times. Once this product is applied, you can feel the conditioning properties.
Heat Protection: I haven’t used this for heat protection, but I have no doubts that I could. For added protection, I would use a product specifically for heat protection though.
Breakage Defense: Since cutting my relaxed ends off, I haven’t dealt with breakage, so I couldn’t say anything on that.
Controls Frizz: I haven’t really seen a difference in frizz, so I can’t comment on that.
Moisturizes Dry Hair: I use this as my moisturizer now. As said before, I’ve used this in dry and wet hair, and in both instances, it has done the job. They weren’t lying when they said that this reduces the need for multiple products. I spray this on after a wash, slap on an oil, and I’m good to go.
Prevents Split Ends: Again, I can’t say much about this because I’m not looking for split ends, lol.
Adds Exotic Shine: *ting* That was the sound of the shine popping off my hair. This really does make my hair look so shiny and healthy.

Pros: Gives shine, gives moisture, helps detangle, conditions, makes hair very soft….(I could go on.)
Cons: The smell lasts a while, so if you don’t like the smell, get used to it, lol. The spray bottle is troublesome.

This product gets a 10/10, A+, 100% will repurchase.

Take it from me: go GET YOUR LIFE and get you some of this here magic in a bottle. I promise you, it will not disappoint. And if it does, I’ll give you your money back, from my own pockets.

Until next time,
Mandisa ❤

Vacation Hair, or, My Two Day Debacle and How To Fake It Until You Make It

Hello beauties! Happy Monday!
Well, vacation time has come and gone, and you all know what time it was, yes? Time to install my protective style! As I’ve shared with you before, now that my straight hair is gone, my focus is healthy hair and optimum growth retention, and I’m doing that by utilizing protective styling.
For this vacation, I’ve decided to install afro puffy twists. I’ve seen some of my favorite vloggers do them and ever since then, I’ve fallen in love. For these twists, my inspiration came from tons of YTers, but for the most part, I watched ToniDaley80 and Addicted2GlamXO’s videos until I memorized them. (Hey girls!)
The hair that was recommended to be used was from the Nafy Collection, and could only be found online. Because of the fact that I have no patience, I went to my local BSS and bought another brand. I bought two packs but ended up using just over one pack, and that was only because I wasted a significant amount of hair. This hair can tangle up, and tangle up badly. Also, my parts were pretty big because like I said, I’m not patient, and ain’t nobody got time for small parts. Maybe someday.

I was sooooo excited to put these in! Then came the horrible installation process. I tried and tried and tried some more to get these twists to stay in my head, but they kept falling out.
First, I tried to braid it into half of my hair and then braid in the other half, much like Yolanda Renee’s(hey girl!) chunky twist installation method.
I also had a real problem with dividing the hair. It all came in one big pack, and especially considering that it’s Afro Kinky hair, it’s very difficult to seperate. Even more so, making sure the pieces are equal between every twist was mind numbingly difficult.
Then I searched YT (my lifesaver) and found BlackWomenHair’s (hey girl!) video on how to install kinky twists and that did the trick. (It didn’t help me with making the twists equal though; my aunt helped me with that a little later).
So I had to redo my WHOLE ENTIRE HEAD AFTER STAYING UP UNTIL FIVE IN THE MORNING DOING IT THE WRONG WAY.
….
……
………
After throwing a tantrum and redoing my hair, it turned out alright. My aunt, being the saint that she is, helped me fix the mistakes that I had made. ::sings:: What’s gonna work? Teeeeaaaamwork!
Here’s how it looked after:

I have to tell you guys, I wasn’t that happy with them at first. I would have liked them to be a little bit longer, and maybe a bit puffier, but hey! you work with what you got! So I put on some fancy hair accessories (inspiration from Addicted2GlamXO) (hey girl!) and posed for the camera!
In my opinion, it didn’t make sense to take them out after spending two whole days on them, and I could take them out after my vacay to get a little more comfortable with my hair.
Here’s to fakin’ it and makin’ it!

Until next time,
Mandisa ❤

Benefits of Coconut Oil

Hi Lovely Ladies & possibly Gents (natural hair doesn’t discriminate Lol!),

I hope you all are doing well. I’m here to stop by and talk about this jar of gold I picked up recently, or in other words my Coconut Oil! To be completely honest I don’t have one bad thing to say about this product. You can read up more about it and see the benefits are endless. It’s great for your hair, skin, body, and overall health! Since I purchased it about 2 months ago, I’ve seen nothing but great things. I only wish I picked it up sooner! Let me tell you how I’ve been using it and why I think it’s so great. 

For Hair

Since I started using this product my hair has been shiny, super moisturized, soft, and it feels a lot healthier. Although I’ve mostly been using it as a sealant, coconut oil’s particles are small enough not just  to seep into your hair shaft but your scalp as well, making it easy for the moisture to penetrate, instead of just coating the surface. That being said, due to the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial healing properties of coconut oil, it can be used to treat and sooth an itchy|flaky scalp. I haven’t totally neglected using my olive oil. I still use it to oil my scalp. I will probably use it more in the colder months since coconut solidifies in cooler temperatures. As of right now, it’s my preferred sealant! 🙂 Oh! Did I mention that it also contains Vitamin E  and can protect your hair from the harmful sun rays! I’m telling you the the goodness never ends.

For Skin

If ya’ll didn’t know I have relatively dry skin. Maybe the lotions I’ve been using haven’t been cutting it! For example I could apply it to my left arm and by the time I get to my right it’s gone! Okay… I’m exaggerating a little, but you get my point. It just doesn’t last as long as I would like. So lately I’ve been using coconut oil on my skin and I have seen tremendous results. Let me tell you, when I wake up in my morning my skin feels so good. I don’t even have to reapply! This has inspired me to make my own body butter with all natural ingredients. Since our skin is porous and majority of body lotions are filled with chemicals and unnatural fragrances, I feel better knowing that what I’m putting on my body won’t harm me in the long run, while making my skin softer and glow at the same time. Why not give it a go!

 

Random Tip

I read something on Pintrest that said if you apply coconut oil to your eyelashes they will thicken and grow over time. Of course, I tried it. I don’t want to get too excited but I feel like it’s working! I just love this stuff!

Talk to you soon!

– Irene

Let’s Talk about…TEXTURE

Hello all, happy Monday! I hope you’re starting your week off well. I’m deciding to come to you guys with something that I couldn’t really speak about until I cut off my relaxed ends: my hair texture(s).
I think this deserves some background. So, when I had my relaxed ends, I thought that I knew what kind of texture I had. I would compare my hair texture to some of my favorite vloggers, like Yolanda Renee and whoissugar(they’re on the blogger/vlogger page). It’s funny because although I knew that I couldn’t be sure of my hair texture, I was! I pictured myself with the hair texture that I thought I had. It also didn’t help that every time I took a picture of my texture, it was from the back of my head.
Let me speak here, many naturals have MANY different textures in their head, which I knew and simply didn’t abide by, lol. So it was fitting that when I did my “big chop”, I was surprised, and yes, even a little disappointed.
My hair in the back is comprised of very loose curls. It is sooooooo easy to detangle the back of my head, because I literally finger comb once and that’s it. I also don’t have to use that much product on the back section of my hair.
The front of my hair is more “kinky.” That’s comprised of tighter curls that need a lot more product to do anything. I need a lot more product to work with it, and it takes a bit more time to finger detangle.
To be honest with you guys, it’s still taking me some time to get used to my “new” hair. I had those permed ends to hold on to for a whole year!
Here’s to embracing my curls, girls!

Until next time,
Mandisa ❤

Pop Up!

Hello all! Just popping in quickly to share some love with you guys!

DivinelyRooted has had the pleasure of being featured on TrialsNTresses! Irene and I have both been featured, but separately. The stories focus on our natural hair journey, and ask some really thought provoking questions! Go check them out!