STYLE ALERT: Braided Fauxhawk Swoop

It took some thought and creativity to come up with a name for this style, haha, but I think "braided fauxhawk swoop" is a good descriptor.

I created the style while looking for a cool but quick performance-do...it's actually a variation on another style I do that more closely resembles a fauxhawk...it just goes down the middle rather than swooping over on the side. The concept and execution is basically the same in the beginning steps though.

I wish I had some closeups of the actual style, but I THINK you can see what's going on up there! so the sides are flat twisted upwards on both sides and then I turned my head upside down so that I could braid the locks from the back of my head to the front of my head down the middle. I braided it all the way to the end and just took the large middle braid and swooped it to my left side using bobby pins to secure it into itself somewhere toward the middle.

Here's me rocking the look at my sister's big birthday bash (wearing an original design by me I might add!):

- "Mo hair"

 

Rahkua Ishakarah

rahkua.com

YouTube: A Head Of MY Hair

Instagram: @aHeadOfMyHair

Tumblr: http://rahkuanailshair.tumblr.com

DONATE TO MY PROJECT AFRICA CAMPAIGN:

www.gofundme.com/ProjectAfrica

iHEARTrahkua@gmail.com

Halloween Hair!

I LOVE to dress up for Halloween and kool hair is the perfect touch to complete a great look. With Halloween on a Saturday this year, I decided to do a whole "Halloweekend" and added a little costume element to my look Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was very fun to say the least.

FRIDAY

I work with kids during the week teaching arts enrichment and we were having a school-wide Halloween carnival that Friday. They encouraged the staff to dress for the occasion but I still had to wear my work shirt so I decided to focus more on a makeup costume. I wanted something that I didn't really have to dress for but that would still be kool enough to make an impact. Hence, the ventriloquist's dummy!

I was looking through my old posts and the "Hairspiration!" tab of my blog trying to find an idea for this year's hair that would match the dummy look. I finally found something on my YouTube channel: The Three Bun Cluster.

I made a couple of modifications to the look - like adding an extra twist on the front opposite the side braid, making two large braids up into the bun at the back of my hair, and one strand twisting the buns instead of two-strands - and it came out exactly how I imagined and complimented the costume perfectly. A lot of the kids (AND parents) were wowed (and a little freaked out lol) so I think it went awesome!

Saturday

The actual day of Halloween I wanted to be something cute, sexy, and stylish because I also had a performance that night at The World Stage in Leimert Park. I decided to be a fairy!

Again, I wanted my makeup to be kool, so I looked up a couple different fairy face ideas and put them all together to create my own:

My costume was pretty simple. I wore an all white dress that I made myself last year (and have only gotten to wear it once) and I threw on some white glitter wings and the most comfortable white Steve Madden pumps ever... and I was a fairy!

I decided the hair worked again for this costume as well so I kept up the three bun cluster and just added a little tiara :)

SUNDAY

I didn't really go all out on Sunday's "costume" but I did throw in a fun touch to give a "not everyday look" so it was clear I was still participating in HalloWeekend. I dressed in all black with gold chucks, gold printed bead necklace, and leopard print watch. Then I threw on some leopard kitty ears and cat eyes eye liner. It was cute…don't have many pics. The versatile three bun cluster did an awesome job of staying up and fresh and served this outfit perfectly as well.

How did YOU spend Halloween?

Did you wear any new and exciting costumes?

Tag me on your IG photos with #AHOMHalloween!

 - "Mo hair"

 

Rahkua Ishakarah

rahkua.com

YouTube: A Head Of MY Hair

Instagram: @aHeadOfMyHair

Tumblr: http://rahkuanailshair.tumblr.com

DONATE TO MY PROJECT AFRICA CAMPAIGN:

www.gofundme.com/ProjectAfrica

iHEARTrahkua@gmail.com

Style Alert: Side Bun

I started the month out talking about a very convenient, quick, and easy style: The Bun. So I wanted to close out the month with an equally convenient, quick and easy style that gives a slight variation to the former post…the SIDE bun!

My Top Picks: LockStyles for Men

So last week on Instagram (@Rahkua_LoveLossLies) one of my male readers asked about style suggestions for guys. I thought I'd compile a nice list of guy hairdos that were cool, crazy, and/or fun. Of course there are lots of guy haircuts, braids, etc that are cool too, but I'll focus on guys with dreadlocks for this particular post (the requester has locs). 

These looks come from a variety of places like Pinterest, and a couple cool Instagram account I follow like @loc_revolution and @loclivin

Here's my top 15:

Style Alert: The Bun

Probably my most frequented hairstyle is the bun. It is a quick, simple, and cute style and perfect for those hot summer days when the last thing I want is 36 inches of hair heating my back and neck! I pair the bun with a variety of styles on the front, unlocked part of my hair from one and two strand twists to flat twists and braids. 

STYLE ALERT: Ponytail

A couple weeks ago I posted, STYLE ALERT: Pigtails to give a quick and easy style that worked for different occasions. This week's follow-up to that is the ponytail.

Ghetto-itis

We've all heard this word before: "Ghetto" and unfortunately it is a word that holds negative connotation usually associated with blacks or black stereotypes/behavior/style/speech/culture etc.

It's funny to think about the word's origin since it really had nothing to do with African Americans:

Ghetto:

2.

(formerly, in most European countries) a section of a city in which all Jews were required to live.

3.

a section predominantly inhabited by Jews.

dictionary.reference.com

The word is more often thought of in terms of its slang definition now.

Ghetto:

5.

pertaining to or characteristic of life in a ghetto or the people who live there: ghetto culture.

6.

Slang: Often Disparaging and Offensive. noting something that is considered to be unrefined, low-class,cheap, or inferior: Her furniture is so ghetto!

dictionary.reference.com