aHead of MY Hair

November 14, 2017

Heat Damage Styling

I'm feeling like this is deja vu. Like, didn't I just go through this heat damage thing? Did I not learn my lesson the first time? Well, I guess not, because here we are again...the land of heat damage & sadness! hahaa

I went to Punta Cana & Atlanta for my birthday at the beginning of last month. It was truly amazing and breath taking. I have unreleased video that will probably go up on my artist page at youtube.com/Rahkua whenever I finish editing it. Anyway, toward the second half of the trip in Atlanta, I let my big sis straighten my hair. This is nothing new. She is who usually straightens it besides the times I've gotten stylists to do it. And she always does an amazing job...this time was no different.

I left it straight for about 2 weeks and did a bantu knotout on it for the 3rd week. After that, I was ready for a wash. I used my new As I Am samples that I got from this year's Nappywood Natural Hair Expo and deep conditioned for like 3 hours praying that my curls reverted back. I had no such luck.

After washing, rinsing, conditioning, sitting, and rinsing again, I could clearly see that my spirals were long gone :( I whipped the limp, straight strands up into bantu knots (cringing as handfuls of hair came out into my fingers and combs), and covered it up for 2 days dreading the reveal.

When I took them down, it was actually quite beautiful. I mean I can definitely tell that my hair is just, not the same, but at least the style looked good. So I have spent the past week trying to come up with styles that will help me disguise the damage and give me some semblance of curl. Although I can no longer make an afro, which makes me immeasurably sad, here are the styles I came up with:

Flat-twisted side bun
Bantu Knot-out
Scarf tied on stretched hair
High bun
Flat-twist-out

How do you style your damaged hair?

Should I just chop it all off and start from scratch?

Are there any products you recommend to bounce back from damage?

- "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

October 16, 2017

AHOMH STYLE ALERT: High Puff

A lot of naturals' go to style is the puff. And, don't get me wrong, it's cool and all, but I just don't feel like I'm in love with it like a lot of other naturals. BUT, I think a big part of that has been just not getting the BIG puff look that I want and feeling like my hair is just too short. I started to notice though, a lot of naturalistas who were rocking a fro even shorter than mine, were able to achieve a BIGGER puff than mine! I was confused and hella curious.

One day I saw my little sister's puff (you can check out her interview here! FEATURED: Namibiyah Ishakarah), and was baffled at how she could get her puff so big...so of course I asked, and she put me up on game, lol. I had been pulling all of my hair up into one tight ponytail holder and then pulling the hair from that with my fingers to try to make it look bigger. 😑 Apparently, I was supposed to use one of those large ponytail holders, put it on the base of my head and push it up until I achieve the size and shape puff that I desired! Well, excited by this news, I decided to try it out and.....success!

I got a giant puff that I didn't even realize I could make. I left a little hair out on the sides for some sideburns and used a little water and finger coiling to get a curl. Then I polished up the look with a little edge control.

I will definitely be employing this method for next time.

What are your big puff tricks?

Do you prefer a "wash & go puff" or a stretched "twist out puff"?

- "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

September 20, 2017

AHOMH STYLE ALERT: Wash & Go Bun

I bought my first ever jar of Eco Styling Gel and I can definitely see what all the hype is about. Ha!

I got one of thee most defined wash & go's I've ever had using the Eco Styling Gel, combined with my Cantu Leave-In Conditioner, a little olive oil, some mango scented shea butter, and QP Elasta's Olive Oil and Mango Butter Curl Defining Pudding. I usually can't get the wash and go this defined when I haven't done a pre-style prior to the wash (like twists, knots or braids), so I was very happy with the results.

Also I used another newly bought product with a lot of hype: Hick's Edge Control. I'll probably do a video review on that so be on the lookout at youtube.com/Rahkuaaheadofmyhair.

Since the front of my hair is still a bit longer than the front, and I wanted to spice up my wash and go, I decided to add a high centered bun. Here are some side and back angle views of the style:

All in all, I'm really happy with how it turned out AND that MY HAIR IS GROWING! :) Yay, lol.

How do you get your curls super defined?
Have you ever tried the shingling method?
What are your holy grail products for the wash & go?

- "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

September 7, 2017

NATURAL Hair Extensions!

I'm back yall!

I took a bit of a break for a while to just give my hair some time to grow and breathe and live on its own and also just because I was busy as heck! Haha....but I am happy to have some time to get back to y'all ESPECIALLY since I have a cool trick to share. 🤣🤣

I REATTACHED MY LOCKS!

Yes, remember I mentioned to y'all that I would try this out? Well, I finally did it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my new hair journey and don't plan on the reattachment being a permanent thing. BUT I also miss having long hair and had a little time on my hands this past labor day weekend so I decided why not???

It took about an hour and a half or so to reattach and braid them into two big braids going back but sitting front. And they look SO natural haha. Like you can't even tell I ever cut them. And what I love about it too, is that I have locks in the front now too (remember how the front of my hair has been loose for like 15 years while the back was locked?) I can finally experience "locked all over" looks.

I thought it might be a little weird, but it definitely is not. It feels normal. It might be weird for the other people experiencing me having them again though. HA!

Here's the look from side and back angles (shoutout to my photographer, Rahzizi Ishakarah):

In general, I think it's pretty kool that I can rock this new look. I did just a simple braid style to start, but I'll definitely be trying out some more complicated styles like locknots, bantuknots, fauxhawks, and more with the reattached natural extensions! Be sure to check out the video later this week at youtube.com/Rahkuaaheadofmyhair.

What do you think about "natural" hair extensions?

Have you ever seen anyone do them before?

Would you keep and reattach your big natural chopped hair?

- "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

July 4, 2017

Independence Beach Day w/Bro

JULY 4, 2017

I love the beach! And what better day to spend Independence Day than chillin with family in the sand and sun of Cali beaches?

My brother, Rahzizi, has been working on his photography skills and we decided to do a little photoshoot in my red, white, and blue. I got my hair straightened a couple weeks ago and it's time for a wash, so I didn't mind it getting all sandy and humidified. The wind was quite welcome!