aHead of MY Hair: March 2017

March 22, 2017

Bye Felicia!

I Love doing a braid out. It makes my hair look so healthy and lustrous and the crinkles are cool lol. I normally do a middle part and let the crinkle fro fly out to the sides as it wishes :)

The preparation process is pretty simple:

I always wash and condition my hair first so that it can be clean and damp when I start the style.
Then I detangle (gosh I hate detangling!). I mostly let it air dry and pat out excess water with my towel.
After detangling I add in my products. Lately I've been using a combination of olive oil, coconut oil, Cantu leave-in conditioner, and Softee Indian Hemp grease.
Next, I part my hair into about 6-8 different sections, braiding those sections up as I go along.
Then, I let it air dry more so I won't wet up my pillow (I usually do my hair around bedtime) before tying it up with my purple scarf and just throwing my bonnet on over that for a little added protection.

These pics are hilarious to me because it makes me think of the infamous "Felicia" from the movie Friday who wore here hair in simple plaits all over her head.

In the morning I prep my fingers with coconut or olive oil and undo the braids carefully. I finger comb through the hair and fluff it in places where i want it to be bigger. The number and thickness of the braids also helps determine the shape. Here's the result:

I've tried this on my straightened hair as well and it comes out even more airy and lustrous. This is kind of a hassle when it's windy out though! I threw on a hat the first day and left it fro the next:

And that's it! Its a simple style and I think it's great for the growth process. If I don't have anywhere to be I'll leave the braids in a couple days (like over a weekend) and the crinkles last a lot longer.

Tag @aheadofmyhair in YOUR favorite braid out pics!

Rahkua Ishakarah

rahkua.com

YouTube: A Head Of MY Hair

Instagram: @aHeadOfMyHair

Tumblr: http://rahkuanailshair.tumblr.com

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March 14, 2017

Updated Two-Strand Twists

If you follow my vlog (youtube.com/rahkuaaheadofmyhair), you've seen my 3 part two-strand twists video with updated length and styling. I love that I can actually see my hair growth and thank you guys for coming on the journey as I document it!

When I did the twists, I used a little different method than normal. Instead of putting the twists into bantu knots like usual, I used the banding method to stretch the twists so I would have stretched hanging twists this time around instead of the curls that the bantu knots would make.

I loved the outcome because it allowed me to rock a controlled "straight-esk" style without any heat and with very little need to re-do my hair for at least 2 weeks. And I think the bob look suits me.

If I were to do things differently, I would change the configuration of my banded bunches so as to avoid the part down the middle/back of my head after taking it down. I was able to disguise the part by putting the twists into a ponytail for a couple days to re-direction the hair.

After that time it basically hung the way I needed it to.

How often do you do your hair in two-strand twists?

Do you ever wear them as a style or only to achieve a twist out?

Rahkua Ishakarah

rahkua.com

YouTube: A Head Of MY Hair

Instagram: @aHeadOfMyHair

Tumblr: http://rahkuanailshair.tumblr.com

SUBSCRIBE to my mailing list at iHEARTrahkua@gmail.com

March 7, 2017

It's Growing!

So last month I officially reached the 6 month mark (http://aheadofmyhair.blogspot.com/2017/02/checking-in-6-months.html) of my Big Natural Chop and it's so awesome how much my hair has grown and continues to grow. Don't get me wrong, I still feel like it's super short, which I'm still getting used to, but I can honestly FEEL and see my progress. Last night, I put two cornrows in my hair and could instantly feel the difference since the last time I did it. Granted, my hair is a big more stretched than maybe normal because I'm coming off of a braid out, but it was so much easier to work with mostly because of length. And I am terrible at braiding but they actually came out decent!

Just a few months ago I had to pull and tuck and struggle with the braids once I got about halfway down, close to my ears, because the hair was just SO short back there that it REFUSED to obey. This time though, all the hair went in with ease and I didn't even have to use any bobby pins like usually! That was the very best part haha, you know how much I hate those things.

Well, anyway, that's it for today. I really just wanted to share my excitement with my growing strands. Hopefully it keeps it up so my braids can actually touch my shoulder without having to stretch it lol.

Tell me about YOUR hair growth story! When did you first realize it was growing?

- "Mo hair"

Rahkua Ishakarah

rahkua.com

YouTube: A Head Of MY Hair

Instagram: @aHeadOfMyHair

Tumblr: http://rahkuanailshair.tumblr.com

SUBSCRIBE to my mailing list at iHEARTrahkua@gmail.com

March 1, 2017

My First Wig!

So I was scrolling Facebook about 2 weeks after my big natural chop and one those little side ads caught my eye. Now usually I don't pay them any mind at all but I guess they caught me on a good day because I decided to click and find out more. haha...that click turned into a purchase...congrats to them and Facebook ad marketing.

Anyway...what I ended up buying was my first wig!!! Omg. lol. So, it's the cutest little curly fro and it was SO funny to wear it. I went to see the amazing Beyonce in concert and wanted to try something different.

Although I thought it looked pretty dope it made me a little uncomfortable. It was like, I was wearing somebody else's hair on my hair lol...even though it's a synthetic one. But I guess I could just look at it as if I'm wearing a hat or something...a hair hat.

Side note, I did my nails in honor of Bey for the occasion :) Bzzzzzzzz!

Here's a close-up look (pre-makeup and outfit):

It really doesn't look all that different from my regular hair...it's just more filled out I guess...especially in the back where my hair is still super short.

It was really fun to rock the wig and take on that persona for the night, but I've only worn the hair again like 2 times since that night and its been like 4 months or so now. I guess I just can't get used to that strange feeling of hair on my hair lol.

I was fly though, ain't gonna lie :)