Toni Daley's "The Big Chop" Natural Hair Wig - 1st Impressions Review

I love, love, LOVE tapered cuts, but I have a serious case of style remorse. I love to change up my look from time to time, so cutting my hair to shorter lengths isn't quite ideal.  However Toni Daley, a kinky natural hair vlogger and advocate of supporting black owned business (#SUPPORTASISTA), has changed all that. You see Toni also owns a small business of her own in which she sells earrings, hair tube wraps, and wigs designed to blend with type 4, kinky naturalistas.   

 

I snatched on of her latest wigs called "The Big Chop" which gives me all the kinky hair in a tapered cut life I need. I placed my order and received my wig within a week. So I just had to try it on!   

  Check out 1st impression of Toni Daley's "The Big Chop"wig in the video below! Also feel free to get more specific details on The Big Chop wig and all of Toni's amazing wigs on her website ToniDaley.com.

EASY Roll,Tuck, & Pin - Kinky,4c Natural Hair

Are you a lazy natural? No time to do your hair in the a.m.? No excuse! With this easy roll, tuck and pin tutorial, you can look sophisticated and well put together in no time. All you need is stretched or blown out hair (if you have shorter hair), bobby pins, a headband, and about 5 minutes (if that). This look is great for any occasion I promise you! Add a few pearl beads or an ornate accessory, and you've got yourself a formal updo. Hope you like this tutorial! Xoxo

 

How I Blowout & Trim Kinky 4c Hair (for DIY Naturals)

The ability to learn and do most things on my own is something that I have always valued. It's no different when it comes to my kinky, 4c hair. Once I got my hair cut back in September 2014, I knew that maintaining my ends was something I just had to learn to do myself. I just am not about that "go to the salon and pay someone else to do what you can do" life. Sorry, not sorry! I haven't been in an actual salon in over 5 years (getting my cuz to cut my hair on his porch does not count). 
 
So after a trial run of blowing and trimming my own in January (2015), I had enough confidence to share how I blow out and trim my own hair. So after 6 months, I took out my camera to film the process for you. 

THE BLOW OUT

Kinky, 4c textured hair like mine can be pretty tricky to trim in it's natural state. With factors like shrinkage, it could be easy to snip away hair that looks uneven that really isn't. I find that the best way to prevent excessive snipping, is to blow out my hair before I trim it. I did my blow out on freshly washed hair, and I used the Carol's Daughter Sacred Tiare Styling Cream. It  says that it can be used as a blow out and flat iron cream. Get your clean hair, blow dryer, favorite heat protectant / blowout cream and see how I blew out my hair below. 

 

      THE TRIM   Based on the comments under the video below, many naturalistas have had terrible in the salon experiences when it comes to getting a basic trim. Trimming your hair on your own does not have to be a scary process at all. Not having eyes in the back of your head is no problema either! In the video below, you can see how easy it was for me to trim my hair from all angles.   

I know it's cheesy, but we can do anything we put our minds too. Just stop freaking out and get down to business.

Coloring Your 4c Natural Hair with Cream Eyeshadow : Hair Care Tips & Tricks

 I love to see naturalista's with beautiful vibrant hair colors. One thing I love more is to get that same look with a LOT less commitment. Enter cream eyeshadows. They're a great way to achieve a vibrant, pop of color without the commitment of using harsh chemicals. I've colored my hair using cream eyeshadows on multiple occasions, here's some tips,tricks, and answers to some FAQs. 

 
Initial Hair Condition
 
On both occasions in which I colored my hair, my hair was moisturized before hand. One thing I would recommend is that you do not saturate your hair with too much products before you apply your color. These products may interfere with the eyeshadow's ability to set onto your hair.

Side Note:  Get this! Eyeshadows and their packaging were not designed with the thought of naturalista's using it to temporarily color their hair. It's gonna get messy! One way or another your hands are gonna get eyeshadow on them - unless you're wearing gloves. Apparently I like a little "danger" in my life.

Color Application Methods

There are two methods of color application that I've tried that worked really well in my hair.
 
The first method, my personal favorite, is the "thumb press" (I just made that up). You  basically  place your hair between the eyeshadow container and your thumb. Then you press your hair into the eyeshadow with your thumb (hence the made up name) and glide the eyeshadow down your hair shafts. 
 
The second method, is to take a small amount of eyeshadow out of it's container and slide it down your hair shafts. Although the first method is my favorite, this second method works best when I'm running low on eyeshadow and I need to get the last bit of product out of the container.  

The Best Color Pay Off

I would recommend trying the more vibrant and pigmented colors of whatever eyeshadow line you're looking into. I personally have tried "Painted Purple", "Tenacious Teal", and "Bad to the Bronze" from the Maybelline Color Tattoo by Eye Studio Eye Shadow Line.

"Painted Purple" and "Tenacious Teal" turned out great, but "Bad to the Bronze" was a total fail. The payoff was not great from the very beginning. The color was barely noticeable. The fact that I have dark natural hair was not helping either.

Color Longevity?
 
The less you do the better. That's a saying that we naturalista's have come across as it pertains to retaining length, but it also applies in this case. Constant retwisting and manipulation is going to gradually transfer color from your hair onto your hands. 

Color Removal?

Removing cream eyeshadow is embarrassingly simple. Just wash your hair with your favorite shampoo. You may need  a second wash to get the color completely out depending on how much of your hair was colored. 

I hope this helps. Have fun with your hair!
 

GODDESS TWIST 4C HAIR TUTORIAL - ( Inspired by Uzo Aduba's Red Carpet Hair)

I recently jumped on the Orange is the New Black (OITNB) wagon and I have absolutely no regrets. It's a  TV series about the dynamics of these particular female inmates and what they did to be in their current situation in the first place. My favorite character in this series is Suzanne Warren aka Crazy Eyes played by actress Uzo Aduba.  I saw a photo of her at the Critic's Choice Awards in which she won Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for OITNB and was inspired by her hairstyle. Hence I tried to replicate her simple, yet elegant protective style and it was a success!

 

The look reminds me of the goddess braid style but with a twist (pun intended). It’s simple and that’s what I love about it. It’s the simple, classic styles that have the ability to transcend occasions. You can rock this look running errands, working in the corporate world, and even fancier affairs such as red carpet events.

Uzo Aduba's Protective Style at the Critic's Choice Television Awards!

With winter right around the corner, this style is perfect  for those days when you don’t want to keep everything under a beanie, but you want to  keep your ends protected. This look can last up to 4-5 days if you use styling products with excellent hold like EcoStyler gel. It’s a superb way to give your hair a little manipulation break.

 

I hope you enjoy this tutorial and share it. Don't be greedy!:)

CURLING KINKY TWISTS w/ FLEXI RODS

Summer time is RIDICULOUSLY hot here in the Caribbean and the last thing I want to deal with on top of the heat is my hair. So I went into protective style mode and put kinky twists in my hair. They're not thick and heavy like the marley twists I put in previously, but I used the same installation method. 
Some times I let them hang down and straight, but sometimes I throw some curls up in there for a glam look. In the tutorial below, I used hot water and some flexi rods to obtain bouncy curls. The curling process doesn't take long at all and can take even less time if you have a girlfriend to help you out.    The hair used for this look is Sensationnel's Soft n Silky Afro Twist Braid hair in color #2. I used 4 packs and did not cut the hair in half. Enjoy!  

 

4C HAIR WASH DAY: Renpure Originals, Hibiscus Tea Rinse, and the Best Conditioners Ever

Hey everyone! I had a wash day this past weekend and decided to share it with you. It's definitely not your typical wash day product commercial. I think ladies on a tight budget would appreciate this one because the products that I used were very cheap. One of the products was actually made by yours truly. 

My wash day regimen is pretty consistent in regards to the steps I take. I shampoo, rinse, detangle with a conditioner, rinse, and finish it off with a deep conditioner. What isn't quite consistent is the products that I use. What can I say, I love to see what else is out there and how my hair responds to it! 

Check out my wash day method and what products I used on this particular day! 

 

DIY : Hibiscus Tea Rinse for Natural Hair

   How about some tea...for your hair?!

A tea rinse is a treatment for your hair in which you basically brew a tea and drench your hair in it. What your hair receives from the rinse varies with the tea you choose. Black tea and green tea contain caffeine and it's believed rinsing your hair with it will promote hair growth.

After reading quite a few articles about tea rinses, I thought about making a hibiscus tea rinse for myself! Of course I looked up the possible benefits of using hibiscus tea. It turns out that in addition to promoting  hair growth, it discourages split ends, and prevents premature hair greying.

  When to Use It

The consensus is that the order for using your tea rinse during your wash day regimen is to:

1. Shampoo , 2. Tea Rinse, & 3. Deep Condition. 

Tea rinses tend to give your hair a hard feeling. Using a deep conditioner, adds that softness back to your hair.

How to Make It

Here's how I made my Hibiscus Tea Rinse. Most tea rinses are made from teabags containing dried herbs, but I see hibiscus flowers everywhere on my way to and from work and other places so I figured why not pick a few and make it fresh. Here's a video of my DIY below! 

 

It is way to soon for me to share my thoughts on what the tea rinse is doing to my hair if anything at all so I will be following up on this after a few months. 
Have you tried tea rinsing? Let me know your thoughts on it!   

References: Article 1 Article 2  Article 3

MARLEY/HAVANA/KINKY TWISTS TUTORIAL

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope everyone is having an awesome week so far. Summer is fast approaching and usually for me that means it's time to break out the protective styles. Though the protective styles I go for usually include synthetic hair in this instant marley hair. I've used marley hair in the past to do simple, shoulder length kinky twists and they turned out great.   I've been dying to bump up the look with thicker and longer Marley twists and I did just that...minus the dying.   

Mona Lisa Smile

Here's my video tutorial on how I achieved this look.   

  I'm thinking about doing a "Marley Twists Styling Inspiration Video" next.  Let me know if that's something you would like to see.

COLOR NATURAL 4C HAIR WITH CREAM EYESHADOW TUTORIAL

Hey everyone! I've always wanted to experiment with colors in my hair, but didn't want to get involved with the entire process. I love vibrant colors, but I don't necessarily love the idea of bleaching my hair to get it. More bleach would be involved if I wanted to switch  to a different color. No bueno.   I found a solution to this situation in using cream eyeshadow particularly Maybelline's Color Tattoo eyeshadow.  

I got so many compliments on my "color" as most people assumed that I did bleach and color my hair.  Anyways enough click clack or whatever typing on a  keyboard sounds like, here's my tutorial 
on how to get vibrant, temporary color using cream eyeshadow.

Please like, comment, and subscribe to my channel! Don't forget to share. Sharing is caring! Thank you!

FLOWER HEADBANDS + NATURAL HAIR

        One of my favorite spring trends of all time are flower headbands. I've made a tutorial for you one way that I rock flower headbands but I'm not gonna type a whole tutorial out for you guys. 

You can find my tutorial on my YOUTUBE CHANNEL LUVMIKA ! 

That's right! I've started a YouTube channel! This is my 1st video! I hope you enjoy it. 

 Don't forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and COMMENT!

2 EASY BUNS FOR NATURAL HAIR : WORKS GREAT FOR 4C HAIR

I love my natural hair, but there are some days,most days actually, that I don't want to do to much to it. There are days when i don't want to get up a half hour or more early just to make sure that twist out comes out right. For those lazy days, I put my hair up in a bun because they are so easy to whip up. I got home from work and decided to take some pics of the steps to make two buns that I sport regularly. 

Hair condition: My hair is medium length and has been stretched from being in buns. 
Supplies   Water in a Spray Bottle Hair Oil (Jojoba, Argan, Coconut, or any mixture) Hair Gel (I use EcoStyler Gel) Soft Bristle Brush Bobby Pins Goody Ouchless Headband  

    For both styles you need to lightly spray your hair with water to refresh it with some moisture if it's dry.  Seal that moisture in with an oil of your choosing. Take a small amount of hair gel, rub it in your hands, and smooth it in an upward motion around the edges of your hairline. Lightly brush all of your hair in an upward motion to where your bun will be. Finally secure your hair in a pony tail puff. 
Now you're ready to turn that puff into a bun!     THE BOW BUN

•  Separate your puff into two sections, one on the left and one on the right. 

• Loosely twist the very ends of each section. You should end up looking like you have two natural hair helicopter blades on your head.

 

• Pin the end of each twist to the center and back part of your bun with bobby pins (or simply tuck the ends under the Goody hairband! .    

That's It! You can easily do this style on old twist outs to get a bow with a bit more texture.



THE TWISTED CROWN BUN

• Separate your puff into four sections. I'm sorry it'll look even more like a helicopter than the first bun for a bit. 

• Two-strand twist each section from beginning to end. 

• Pin the end of each twist under the the beginning of the twist next to it. It took me a couple minutes to try to describe how I pin it so I hope the visual below helps. 

 

That's it! For a more voluminous bun you can also try this style without twisting the sections. 

See how easy that was! Perfect lazy day buns for those days when you don't want to be in the mirror forever playing with your hair, but still look put together. 

If you try these buns in your hair or any other buns please feel free to share them on my LuvMika87 Facebook Page, @luvmika87 on Instagram, @luvmika87 on Twitter. You can also pin any of the photos you see here onto your Pinterest boards.