Crochet Braids : Mini Twists Extensions.

After several hours of youtube watching, I finally decided to give Crochet braids a chance. The problem was that there were so many options that I wasn't sure what style I wanted to do. I've never done crochet braids before and I was a bit anxious about the whole darn thing. So I went hair shopping and came across these :

They are called Africa Sleek Designs. Super light, NO TANGLES! And Easy to Crochet.

Of course the first step in crochet is braiding cornrows. I honestly could not remember the last time I braided cornrows on my hair, and like riding a bike, I though cornrows was one of those things once you learn how to braid you always know how to braid it...well, I was wrong! I could not remember how to braid cornrows, my hand coordination just wasn't working out. At first I thought i was braiding cornrows but I was actually braiding flat twists! Undo, try again!

After three tries I finally said fxck it!! but since I'm such a sore loser, I decided to give it ONE LAST try!. Although not perfect, this is what I came up with...

And here's the result of my crochet!

I

I'll probably take them out in 4 weeks! Crochet is super easy and great as a protective style.

Later,

Roots4Lia.

Chunky Twist Out. Afro'.

Here are some shots of my hair texture after I took out my big extra chunky twist outs.  I don't like to wear my hair in an afro, in fact I have never worn my natural hair in an afro...except today! After combing out my chunky twist out I was left with an afro, which is exactly what i was going for because I needed to braid cornrows on my hair for a protective styling. Anyways, here are some shots!

The Afro*. 

Later,

Roots4Lia.

Hair Thinning

For the past eight months or so I've noticed that my hair has been thinning. I have extremely FINE hair, which means it breaks a lot and needs lots of TLC. Before pregnancy I didn't have thinning hair, but lately I've been experiencing postpartum hair shedding and thinning!!!. It's driving me bananas. You know how some women get shiny, strong and healthy hair from pregnancy? well I'm completely the opposite. What I got was shedding, thinning and more shedding! My edges are completely gone, and it's not like I'm not taking good care of them, no. I obsess each night before bed and have to make sure my edges are protected and not rubbing on my sheets. I use Shea butter mixed with castor oil or coconut oil for my edges, and yet the result are nothing but sheer disappointment. I did some research and apparently many women experience hair loss, thinning and shedding after giving birth. It's one of those things I have learn to accept and live with. It's gonna take some time to get my edges back and until then, this is my new normal!

So anyways for the past two weeks I wore my hair in medium twists and created a faux bun to finish up the look. I like twists as protective style, they're great and you can style them in many many different ways!

Later,

Roots4Lia. 

2.5 YEARS NATURAL

I can't believe it's been two and a half years since I big chopped. The past one year I've worn my hair mostly in protective styles because I was pregnant and didn't really have the time or the strength and will to do my hair. Postpartum hair shedding has been real, and I've lost most of the hair on my edges.    I know it will take a WHILE to get my edges back, but I'm determined to get my edges back! Here's a pic of what's left of my edges, can you see the damage?

On the positive side, I think my hair has grown a lot. I've been eating healthy and drinking tons of water in order to lose the baby weight. Eating healthy has actually helped my hair grow thick and long. One of these days I WILL do a length check video and post it, but for now the pics will do!

Take a look...

Later,

Roots4Lia.

The Deep Conditioning Issue

I normally deep condition my hair every two weeks when I'm not feeling so lazy. Usually it is recommended that for the deep condition to penetrate the hair follicles, you should use a heating cap or a steamer to add extra moisture. Living in Germany it's almost impossible to find my regular hair products, which means I either have to spend a whole load of ca$$h and shop from the US amazon or pay triple the price in EUROS to get the most basic hair products from the German Amazon. I usually opt for the former, though the price of shipping always ends up doubling the amount i pay for the products. #thestruggle.

Anways, for the past few months I've been using this hair steamer to deep condition my hair, the only disadvantage is that it's not cordless and I have to sit in one place to let it do the job, plus its LOUD. It works great and leaves my hair super moisturized and soft, but I rarely use it because I just don't have the time and sometimes I completely forget about it...

So I recently went on Curlmart.com and bought myself a bunch of hair products, which I'm still trying out and will let you know how they pan out. I also bought myself a "hair therapy wrap thermal turban heat wrap". wow! that's a mouthful!! What I love about it is the fact that its cordless and I can walk around the house and do some errands while my hair is deep conditioning. It works really great and leaves my hair super soft! I also use it for hot oil treatment.

This thermal heat wrap makes my deep conditioning a breeze! Definitely worth the price. 

Later,

Roots4Lia.

Style post: Roll and Tuck

One of my favorite protective hair style is Roll and Tuck or more like flat twist and tuck?! Usually it can last me two weeks before I change it up.

These are some of my to go styles! They are so easy to do and look great. And being a mom of a10th month old, this style is an added bonus because I can just wake up and go about my day, no hair hustles!

Later,

Roots4LiA.

I'M BACK!

Hello to the beautiful you!

I haven't been here in a min! Yea, I know I've been gone and completely neglected updating my hair blog on the regular, but motherhood is a FULL TIME job and I find myself having absolutely no time to keep you guys on the know. So first things first, an apology is in order for my prolonged absence. Sorry my dear natural hair readers. I'll try my best to do a regular update!

I have some hair styles that I have tried these past couple of months, some I loved, some I liked and some I hated. Let me show you em'...


This was a twist out that went terribly wrong, I didn't like how it looked so I opted for a side twist out fro hawk...below.

A side twist out fro hawk

Bantu knot outs
I have a love hate relationship with bantu knot outs. Sometimes they look great on my hair, but sometimes not so much. I think much of it have to do with the type of products I'm using. I've only been using shea moisture enhancing smoothie for styling and truthfully there are days me and shea do not see eye to eye. I hate it then i love it, then I hate it...like when I get such results

Absolutely NOT impressed. 

I need to go back on research mode and find styling products that can give me great definition. I haven't bought hair products in a while so I think I'm about to go on a product junkie drive...will let you know what I purchase and how they test out.

Later,

Roots4LiA.

LENGHT CHECK VIDEO COMING SOON.

Video of my two year hair growth coming soon…

Later,

Roots4LiA.

Protective Style

These past three months I've been manipulating my hair way toooo much and I've finally decided to braid it up for the next 8 weeks! Postpartum hormones has turned my hair into a dry, breaking madness!  Anyways I finally waited till my bubba was asleep at night and decided to get on with the braiding, it took me literally two night to finish, but I DID finish! Peep the pics below, I was actually really impressed with the results.

See you in the next 2 months when i take them out!

Later,

Roots4LiA.

Style Card Wednesday!

WASH DAY

Oh! I dread wash day! It's one of those things that must happen yet I dread and hate it so much I always push it till last minute. Now if only wash day meant jumping in the shower, conditioning my hair and calling it a day, I wouldn't hate it so much. But my wash day involves hot oil treatment, deep conditioning, sitting under a hooded dryer for the full effect of deep conditioning (because my hair is a dry circus thanks to postpartum hormones), THEN jumping in the shower, sectioning my hair, detangling, washing section by section, re twisting each section, conditioning each section, rinsing, then applying a leave in conditioner. It used to take me a total of two hours to just wash my hair, that was before I became a mother. But now, I don't have two hours to spend washing my hair!! The most I take in the shower is maybe 45 mins, and even that is pushing it. So I found something that cuts my time in half, and that is sectioning! Washing my hair in sections is so much more convenient than washing it all matted together as one. It also saves me time after getting off the shower because I don't have to deal with major shrinkage and twisting again. For the moment I'm using olive oil deep conditioner which I love but I might have to start using a DIY deep conditioner because my lovely olive oil deep conditioner is so expensive in Germany I'm not willing to shell out 10 Euros equivalent of $14 every two weeks for a deep conditioner. In the states I used to buy it for $3.99, but darn! Things are on another level of expen$ive here!

Hair saturated with Deep conditioner.

Check out the length. Shrinkage is REAL! 

Later,

Roots4LiA.

Procrastination: The PUFF & The REST.

So the day after my failed attempt at getting sick flexirods results, I decided to see what other mess I could create before the much procrastinated wash day! Honestly, I don't even know what I created but in the end I came back to my to go to style, the lovely puff. My hair on this pic is two weeks old, yup, in need of a wash!

My hair is looking dry because I've been slacking with moisturizing, plus it needs to be DEEP Conditioned. #WashDay.

The Puff. 

Don't know what to call this. #Caption it!

My hair has definitely grown! Though Pregnancy is taking whatever is left of it! oh! the breakage! Postpartum hair shedding is REAL! 

Style FAIL: FLEXIRODS!

While on the hunt for a hair steamer on the German Amazon, I came across these flexirods and had to get them! I was eager to try them out because I've seen many naturals on youtube using them with dope results. I have to say that for my first time using them, I was a bit annoyed that they weren't going on the way I wanted them to or maybe my expectation were just a tad bit high or maybe, I did them in a hurry since my Bubba was being extra fussy! In addition, I didn't really give my hair enough time to dry before taking them out so maybe that also contributed to my trial disappointment! I'm definitely going to try them again and see how it goes. In the meantime, peep the pics below.

Hair was still literally wet when I took off the flexirods, as you can see, the results aren't so great! 

Maybe next time I'll get the definition am looking for!

Later, 

Roots4LiA. 

MINI TWSTS, NEVER AGAIN!

Having a newborn and no time to do my hair, I'm always on the hunt for a good protective style that can last me two to three weeks or even four weeks! Of course I jumped straight to youtube to see what styles I could find.  I have always liked mini twist since going natural and I guess when my hair was still a TWA, mini twists were my to go to style. So of course I decided to instal mini-twists, and regretted the decision two hours later because it was already past midnight, and I was functioning on no sleep for almost a week! But still, I was determined to finish! I finally did finish, but my hands and shoulders suffered a great deal! It took me a total of four hours because I had to stop in between to breastfeed my baby otherwise it would've taken less time, but I will not be doing mini twists again for a very long time. I had them in for three weeks, but it was the takedown that literally did it for me. It came to a point where frustration met exhaustion and all i could think of was getting the darn things out of my head. The mini-twists left my hair in knots and the sheer thought of detangling the mess literally gave me hair anxiety.

Shrinkage is a beast! On the other note, my hair has really grown, Past my collar bone! 

For styling, I just gathered them in the middle and added a faux bun! simply and easy. 

After taking them down, my hair was this knotted MESS! I almost wanted to cry detangling this mane, but luckily I have found a new detangling method that has really REALLY saved my sanity! and time!

Later,

Roots4LiA.