Diana Ross, My Way

So, this took a long time! As mentioned in my previous post I have been sick. Like really bad sinus infection. Finally, I'm getting to the point where I'm not taking anything. So, a couple of days ago, I washed my hair, deep conditioned it, let it air dry, and then straightened it. I love the fact that Diana's hair went from being slick and shorter, to huge and iconic. Like, to the point that no one would even think of her without the GINORMOUS hair that she rocks with ease.

I did this on flat ironed hair. ( with some frizz added in) However, I liked the bigness that the frizz gave me. I did figure out that I need would like to get some layers added into my hair to get it more shape and style options.

All in all, I love my big "Diana" hair. Plus, the bigger the hair, the bigger the drama! Everything just looks.....extra!

Tell me what you think. I can take it....



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Pressed Out Summer Hair

Because of my disastrous hair dryer accident a couple of weeks ago, I decided to straighten my hair. That actually sounds strange, but I really wanted to do a length check and trim the ends. I have never straightened my hair in the summer. Plus, I really don't like to blow dry my hair with a hand dryer and then use heat again to straighten it. I'm a little paranoid. So, I twisted my hair first and let it dry in twists. The next day, I got out my curling iron and curled/ straightened my hair. I didn't get my hair "bone straight", and that was OK for me.  As you can see from the pictures, my hair did not  stay curled for long. The high humidity! But, I did get to trim my hair, and do a length check. I'm about bra strap length in the back and I don't know... mid chest (lol) in the front? (That's not a term I've seen anywhere!) These are just a couple of the styles I did. I really kind of love a bun. So, most of the time I lived in a big top knot, side bun,  and low chignon. The bun just traveled from one end of my head to the other, lol.

I love that I live close enough to the beach that I can just jump in! (No matter what I am wearing)

As you can see, I just flat twisted the sides and attached with a hair band in the back

This was half up half down. Hadn't even left the house. Already fizzed out. But, I love the bigness!

I know a lot of ladies straighten their hair, even in the summer. What do you all do the preserve your stye and hard work?

Who's next?

So, I did my version of Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's updo. That was my first remixed hairstyle. Who should be my next? I wanted to try someone from every decade. So, I have a few that I thought would be interesting to try. I haven't decided which one I would like to try. This is who I've come up with so far from the sixties:

Dorothy Dandridge:

There were sooooo many beautiful pictures of this lady to choose from. Isn't she gorgeous and just so sassy at the same time? Plus, super talented. So much so, that Halle Berry played her in a movie, and won an Emmy Award. You have to watch Carmen Jones. (Not the Hip Hopera. Sorry Beyonce. You're still fabulous!)

And..that's it! Try as I might, I'm having a hard time thinking of anybody else. Everyone I think of was from the fifties or earlier! Or the seventies, lol! Whose style do you admire from the 60's?

Let me know if you can think of someone who's style you admire. Let me know if you're out there....Bueller?.. Bueller?

Remixed-Audrey Hepburn 50's Icon Style Icon,

OK, so this is my version of a style inspired by Audrey Hepburn. This particular style was inspired by the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's an updo that is good for special occasions. (I didn't have a tiara handy. ) But, it can also be dressed down for any occasion using a scarf or a headband.  I re-twisted my hair last night with  Cantu Shea Leave-In Conditioner. I find that it helps to keep the curls defined pretty well. (Even in this crazy humidity) It was pretty easy. It's harder to see all of the details of the stle from my pictures.

So, Audrey...

Sherry!
...Whatcha think



It was pretty quick and easy to do. I just parted my hair into three horizontal sections, twisted the back section up into a small, tight roll and looped the ends into a pin curl, toward the middle of my head. The middle section, I kind of twisted, just to get it out of the way.
The front section (or bangs) was secured with a couple bobby pins to create a hump in the front. (The sides of the middle section,  I parted off, and kept separated to use later.) The ends of that front section, I added to the middle section and made a high ponytail, using a hair elastic. The ends of the ponytail are tucked into a high bun. The two sections that I separated, were pulled toward the back and the ends tucked under the bun, and pinned into place. Repeat the same steps on the other section.
That's pretty much it.
 I saw a video on You Tube by  a talented young lady named Koi. This is her channel and the video that she posted. It's almost the same thing that I did. http://www.youtube.com/user/StrawberryKoiVintage.  I didn't have to tease my hair to make it look fuller. I just separated the twists into smaller twists to add volume. No comb was necessary. The only styling tools I used were my hands, one hair band and some hair pins.
The hairstyle looked cute with twists. But, I think it would also work very well on a roller set, too.

Let me know what you think. How would you remix this style?

My Hair Story

I have been natural for about 3 years and 8 months. My decision to stop relaxing was a gradual one. As a matter of fact, a very good friend of mine (strongly, lol) suggested that I go natural about 12 years ago. I thought she was nuts! What! Give up my relaxer?!? I lived in Virginia Beach at the time, the humidity made me think, " Nope, not gonna happen". Plus, I had been relaxing my I hair since I was 17.
I was natural, as we all call it now, for most of my childhood. There was a brief stint with a Jeri curl, when I was 11. (Worlds of Curls, to be exact, ugh.)  A trip to the neighborhood pool, without a swimming cap, quickly put an end to that episode. After that, I didn't relax my hair until my last year of high school. But, I had to keep up that routine of hair care. (I even relaxed my own hair if my funds were low.  I know, I know.) But, I battled with my hair to keep it both straight and sleek.  As a matter of fact, I referred to getting a retouch as "beating my hair into submission". And I hated to do it!  However, my hair never seemed to grow past my shoulders. 

I always liked big curly hair. But, I didn't think that I could wear my hair that way, not without a relaxer, and a long drawn out roller set process.  Plus, I hadn't really seen my hair in years!

After my wedding in  May 2008, I started seriously thinking about going natural. I live in coastal North Carolina, an area where there are very few African American women.   Crazy humidity. Not one hair salon for our hair. So, the only professional hair care I could get was a trim. The clincher was when I went to the wedding of a friend of mine,  who went natural about 10 years earlier. Her hair was long, shiny, full and gorgeous! I made my decision right then. I wanted healthy long, full, beautiful hair too, lol! My last relaxer was in December of 2008. I just stopped relaxing, and gradually trimmed my hair of the relaxed ends. But, I was flat ironing my hair.  Still, almost year and a half later,  I didn't know how to take care of my natural hair. And summer was coming again...

That's when I discovered YouTube. I didn't realize, at the time, that you can find all kinds of info on natural haircare on the Internet. I. Was. Hooked. I followed Kimmaytube, Rustic Beauty,  Naptural85, and  Curlynikki; the list goes on.

Finally, I got tired of fighting through the two textures and cut off the relaxed ends after a year and a half. So, two years later, what I have now is a the combination of patience, lots of research, trial and error.  No magic potion.

I didn't always get positive reactions. And that was fine. But, I got more encouragement than I ever imagined. My husband loves my hair. Now, I don't try to make my hair bend to my will, lol. I work with it.

In the end, I don't feel any extra flyness or fabulousness because of my natural hair. I just feel like this is more like...me. And I love that!

Right after my last relaxer

A day at the beach..200% humidity!

Twist out updo--Signature look for me.

Let's Get Started

I LOVE old movies! My mother always says that I should have been born in another decade. I love how there were stories without lots of violence and profanity, etc.. But, what I really love looking at in these movies are the clothes that the characters wore! It wasn't really until recently that I thought; "I wonder if I could achieve some of these looks on my natural hair?"

So, for my first posts, I thought that I would find a few fashion icons from the 50's, 60's, 70's; until today. I'm going to post a picture, then come back with my version of the hairstyle. (We'll see how that turns out. :-*) I'm gonna try to be prompt about it y'all. My husband's my official hair photographer, and I'm technology challenged..so..uh..yeah.

So here's my first style icon: Audrey Hepburn

Love. Her! Hands down, one of my favorite actresses to watch is Audrey Hepburn. Although she had help, her style was so classic, elegant and lady like. If you haven't seen Roman Holiday, Funny Face, Sabrina, Wait Until Dark , and Breakfast At Tiffany's, take a look. All great movie classics, and feasts for the eyes. This is a very simple style, but so cute!

I'll check in with my version in s couple of days! Let me know what other styles you'd like to remix. (And your favorite Audrey movie)

Who should be my 60's icon?