Yarn Braids - Yarn Braids/ Genie Locs Directory of Sorts

Friday, April 23, 2010

So in my last post, I promised to make a post that would serve as a type of yarn braids directory. Like a one stop shop of links, to save you from having to trawl through hundreds of websites for information. Some of these links I've used and revisited again and again. Some I think maybe to useful to others.

Please note that this is a work in progress and will be updated as I find more links. So bookmark this page and check back regularly. If you have links that you think may be helpful to others and want it added here, leave me a comment and I'd be happy to. Here goes!


Yarn Braids Videos


Vlog - Yarn on the Brain

My Yarn Braid Results

Yarn Braids

My Yarn Braids Experiences (Answers and Styles)

Yarn Braids

Yarn Braids - Results

My Genie Locs/ Yarn Braids



Yarn Braids - How To's

Yarn Braids - how to start and end a yarn braid (demonstration, not talking)

Yarn Braids Tutorial - how to start and end a yarn braid (talks you through)

Yarn Braids / Genie Locs - nice close up of how to start a yarn braid and how to end it, with great style pics at the end (demonstration, no talking).

Camouflaging Your Hair in the Braid or Yarn Braids - You know how you get those frizzies sticking out of the braid, especially if your hair is natural? Here's a potential solution. Haven't tried it. Let me know if it works for you! (talks you through).

Yarn Braid Tutorial
- One of the best braiding tutorials I've ever seen. She does such a good job of explaining step by step. Not a fan of the color combination, but that's besides the point (talks you through).


A note for those who are new to braiding: A few of the tutorials will have a different way of starting the yarn braids, braiding and ending the braids. Watch a few of the videos and see which methods you're more comfortable with. You can combine techniques from different videos if that works. Don't get overwhelmed. There's no single way of doing this!


Yarn Braid Photo Albums

Yarn Braids/ Genie Locs - by Kellum (she has lots of styles here too!)

tjk25's album - tjk25 was my inspiration for yarn braids, he's made a lot of progress with the, lots more albums on his fotki.

My Yarn Braids - by Kaleela1


To be continued ...

Yarn Braids - Yarn Braids/ Genie Locs Photos Finally

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Drum roll please!! I know I promised to post pictures of my yarn braids forever and a day ago. Better late than never. Here they are:





This set of yarn braids has been in for about 6 weeks. I re-did my edges after about 3 weeks, so they are due to be re-done again soon.

I'm really enjoying these braids. But I'm still yet to improve on the styling front.




This has been my only attempt at a real style. I'm going to go through BlackOnyx's Youtube channel again and look for quick yarn braid styles. Another trick I found is to also looked at styling videos from ladies with proper locs. The end result with yarn braids is very similar. Clearly, I haven't really been putting effort into trying all the beautiful styles I've found. lol. That's about to change the! In one of my next posts, I'll make a yarn braid video directory of sorts so that you won't have to dig around too much.

Anyway, so far here are the pros and cons of yarn braids:

Pros
  • Easy to maitain
  • Light
  • Gentle on my edges
  • My hair was soft and moisturized when I look out my edges
Cons
  • Take ages to dry when washed
  • Laborious to take down
Clearly the pros are outweighing the cons. I'm really happy with the way my hair is coming along. I've also had good growth:



The red line is at about 1.5 cm (around 0.6 inches). So give or take, I'd say I'm hair has been consistently growing at the normal average hair growth rate of 0.5 inches per month.

A maintainance/ washing/ conditioning/ regimen post will be coming up soon. Stay tuned!

Bobbi Brown Pretty Powerful - Vote for Amina

Friday, March 19, 2010

A fellow natural, Amina, is a semi-finalist in the Bobby Brown Pretty Powerful contest. She's a product junkie like a lot of us. Her blog Coup de Coeur has tons of reviews of hair, make up and bath and beauty products. She has the cutest video entry:


You can vote multiple times, no need to register. Just one click! So please bookmark the page and vote as many times as you can. I just even got the SO to vote! lol.

Yarn Braids - I Did yarn braids/ genie locs!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

These yarn braids took forever and a day to do but I'm so happy I did them. It's been about 2 weeks since I put them in. I know, I need a smack for not updating sooner. Better late than never, right?

Ok, I'll go straight to the point as to why I'm absolutely loving these yarn braids/ genie locs:

  • They are extremely light. So they don't pull on my hair at all, especially my edges. This was the whole reason I'd given up on extensions ever since April 2009. But these babies are extra gentle on my hair. There are quite a lot of them, but they're not heavy at all.
  • The yarn is soft and I'm guessing this limits breakage as it doesn't cut into my hair.
  • I've just undone my hairline today (since it's been two weeks) and my hair is well moisturized, as opposed to being dry and breaking when I use normal extensions.
  • I'm loving the 'locs' look!

What I don't like?
  • They take FOREVER to dry when they are washed. Well what did I expect, really? It's like trying to dry a thick cardigan on the washing line. Of course it's going to take a while. Duh, Urban! lol. But I haven't been going anywhere special lately so it doesn't bother me too much. Even then, once they've dried out for a 2-3 hours, you can pretty much leave the house, without dripping water everywhere.
  • That I had to burn the ends. I hate burning braid ends because they stick to and pull on clothes. I tried the knotting the end method, but that started unraveling after a couple of days. Maybe I should've sealed them in hot water?
  • If you have xray vision like I do, and look very very closely ... umm... i think the yarn is kinda turning blue??? : o But it's a very dark blue which I don't think you can notice unless you're very... very close to my head ... and well, I don't plan on having anyone that close to my head so I think I'm good.
Yeh, I see you tapping your foot impatiently, "Urban, you're not posting about a new hair do without pictures are you?" Well yes and no. I am, but only till the next post (in a couple of days), I promise I'll have pictures of my yarn braids in that. I'll also be doing posts on:

How to do yarn braids
How to maintain yarn braids (moisturizing, a few styles, products, tips, etc)

For now have a look at my yarn braid inspirations:

TJK25's fotki
Blackonyx's YouTube

Talk to you soon ladies (and gents?!).

I'm back! Out With Pixie Braids, in with Twists.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Finally done with exams! Wooohoooo!

Ok enough of that and back to the point of this post. I removed the pixie braids I had. They ended up looking so so so frizzy, had to hide them under a wig. It's probably because I co-washed them about 4 times over the last 5 weeks. But they did the job. Kept my hands out of my hair and they were really hassle free.

I got some good growth too over the last 5 weeks. Here are some pics. Disclaimer: I know, I know, this probably wasn't the best way to measure the growth, but it gives me a rough idea which is all I needed, really. I got a little more than a centimetre ... that's about 0.5" or a little less (what I've marked in red is where I cm begins and ends on the ruler, then in black where the braid begins). I'm happy with that : )



After undoing the pixie braids I DC'd on dry hair with Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayonnaise with heat. My first DC with heat in more than 6 months! I'll post a review on the ORS Hair Mayo after a couple more uses. I then put my hair in twists because I'm thinking of doing a twist out tomorrow. Yes yes, if I do I'll be posting pics : ) . The pic on the left is the set of twists I did today and the one on the right is a set from October/November.



: ) Couldn't be happier with my hair at the moment.

VO5 Moisture Milks Passion Fruit Smoothie - Review

Saturday, January 30, 2010

So ask me what I did as soon as I got home? Hit the shower to cowash of course!! LOL. And let me tell you! I love this conditioner! It's truly moisturizing.

As soon as my hair got a dose of this goodness, it felt like butter. It felt really soft and lubricated. I have my hair in pixie braids at the moment, so I wasn't able to test what it would be like on the detangling front. Although, to be honest, it felt like it would provide quite a bit of slip. I'll have to give it a try on loose hair as well.

Compared to Strawberries and Cream (S&C) and Free Me Fresia (FMF)... I think Passion Fruit Smoothie (PFS) might be more moisturizing. Although S&C is more moisturizing than FMF, they both have a tendency to harden my hair a little (more so with FMF). The hardening isn't too bad, it's more a strengthening kind of hardening. I can't quite remember the ingredients in S&C but I know FMF definately has hydrolized keratin, which would probably account for the strengthening properties. I didn't feel that PFS did that at all. It's just purely moisturizing.

I'm trying to see how far I can go with a No Poo (no shampoo) routine. Despite that I've been using Chicoro's moiturizing method and coating my hair with 3 layers of product almost everyday, my hair felt clean with just this cowash. I didn't check my scalp before tying my scarf up for the night, so I'll check tomorrow and update this. But my hair definitely felt clean.

**Update** After that first wash, my scalp wasn't clean. So I cowashed again with this yesterday, same great results, soft moisturized and clean hair. However, my scalp doesn't seem to be getting clean. I tried leaving the conditioner on for half an hour or so. Massaging it in. Lathering twice. Nothing doing ... it's worked before with the FMF ... hmm... maybe because I'm in pixie braids?? Cowashers out there, any tips??

The consistency is quite runny just like most of the cheapie VO5s. But that's a good thing. The runniness makes coverage much easier. Yet it's thick enough to not run down my back/ face. However, this consitency means that you have to be more generous. I think I used a handful and a bit. But maybe that's just me, I'm usually quite heavy handed anyway when it comes to conditioner.

This stuff smells devine too!! I don't know why but it reminds me of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. And you know how good that smells!

I'll definitely be updating this post as I use the conditioner more. But for now it's looking like it could be fav!


Ingredients: Water (aqua eau),cetyl alcohol, stearalkonium chloride, centrimonium choloride, fragrance (parfum), glyceryl stearate, dmdm hydanton, disodium edta, butylhenyl methylpropional, limonene, hexyl cinnnamal, linalool, orange 4, red 4, polusorbate 20, red 40, propylene glycol, stearyl alcohol, steareth-21, tocopheryl acetate, passiflora incarnate flower extract, panthenol, ascornic acid, prunus persica (peach) fruit extract, glycerine soja (soybean) seed extract, niacinamide, biotin.


If you're in Australia, read about where I found this conditioner here.


Other VO5 Moisture Milks Passion Fruit Smoothie Reviews:

http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=62802

http://wickednaps.blogspot.com/2009/12/review-v05-moisture-milks-moisturizing.html

http://www.expotv.com/videos/reviews/3/42/V05-Moisture-Milks-Passion-Fruit-Smooth/293991

http://nappturalcaramel.blogspot.com/2009/09/vo5-moisture-milks-passion-fruit.html


Have you tried the Passion Fruit Smoothie flavour? How did you like it? How does it compare to the other VO5s?

VO5 Moisture Milks in Australia - Update (Passion Fruit Smoothie!!)

Friday, January 29, 2010

In my last post, I talked about finding the cheapie VO5 conditioners (Moisture milks, Free fresia etc) in Australia. I'd said Chemist Warehouse where I'd originally found it can't order in any of the Moisture Milks range for me at this stage due to a "manufacturing problem." So I ended up going to IGA.

I found it!!!!


It's not the Strawberries and Cream I was looking for though. It's the Passion Fruit Smoothie flavour. Can't wait to try it! Review Coming up next!

VO5 Moisture Milks and other products in Australia

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

So somewhere in 2009 I was minding my own business at Chemist Warehouse. Of course before I left, I had to visit the hair isle. And guess what I found?? VO5 Moisture Milks (strawberries and cream) and Free Me Fresia!! I could've done a cart wheel right there! I was so excited!

I've grown to love these conditioners, particularly the Strawberries and Cream. I'll explain why and what method I use now to select conditioners that are good for cowashing. But lately when I've gone back there's only been the Free Me Fresia available. So about 2 weeks ago I asked the girl at the counter if she could order the Strawberries and Cream for me. She obliged, took down my details and said she'd call me once they got there.

Well 2 weeks later. Nothing. I'm getting a little antsy. Lol. So I just called them up a few minutes ago and apparently there's a delay on the order and they'll re-enter it. So more waiting. Fingers crossed, I'll have my precious in my hands in a week or so.

Anyway, I guess the point of this post was to let those in Australia know that you can get the VO5s here at Chemist Warehouse. If your local one doesn't have it, they can order it for you. I've read somewhere on the Longhaircommunity forum that they can also be found at the big IGA stores. I haven't been to one of those.

Other products and where I've found them:

Nature's Gate conditioners - Priceline
Yes To Carrots - Priceline
Clairol Vitapointe - Chemist Warehouse


*update - just as I was finishing this post, Chemist Warehouse rang me back. Apparently there's a manufacturing problem and the distributor won't be able to get it in. Man!! They said to come in in 2 weeks and ask them to try again. Will keep you guys updated. In the meantime I think I'll check at an IGA.

What I want to try in 2010

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Just a quick one. A list of techniques I want to try in 2010:


  • No shampoo
  • Indian powder glosses
  • Straightening (hotcomb or flatiron, not sure yet)


I'll be doing detailed posts on each technique soon. What I'm doing, why I'm doing it and products I'm using.

What techniques are you going to try in 2010?

Hair Progress: Length Check - January 1 2010

Friday, January 1, 2010

Ever reached one of your goals, but felt really indifferent about it? Even a big milestone like Neck Length to BSL, and just feel 'meh'? Then you probably have what the ladies on LHCF have dubbed Hair Anorexia (lol!). Hair Anorexia is feeling unimpressed with any progress and that your hair is never long enough, despite reaching your goals. A while ago there was an LHCF thread about this, and I remember posting that even though I'd reached APL, I didn't feel like my hair was long at all.

Today I was looking at old photos and came across a 'length shot' from back in April when I was SL. Did a side by side comparison with a photo I took today ... I must say, I'm really proud of myself!! I've really come a long way.

So if you're having a hard time appreciating the progress you've made, I encourage you to start taking length shots every now and then. Start now, because I remember when I started my hair journey, I'd always put it off and now I hardly have any photos of my twa stage. If you have a camera, take a quick one, it doesn't have to be perfect. Then every few months you can do side by side comparisons. It really helps!

Without further ado:

a comic strip!

I'm also thinking I should get one of those hair progress T-shirts. Hmm... I did see another really clever way of keeping track of hair growth on Mane and Chic. How resourceful is that???
 

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