Natural Hair. Straight Hair. Natural Hair.

Hello! I hope that you guys had an amazing holiday! I ended up cooking Christmas dinner which was [insert flame emojis here]. I relaxed, went back to work and have been on the go since lol. I recently straightened my hair as well. No, I do not have many pictures, and yes, I've missed my hair. <3

How does one go from kinky-curly, to straight? How do they go from straight to kinky-curly??? There are many ways and methods. I will tell you mine, which seems to work for me. 

Kinky-Curly to Straight: 

• Do not straighten your hair often!!!!
• Yes, long hair allows you to STUNT on folk lol. However, you can lose your curl definition over time with continuous straightening. I've also noticed that the ones who straighten their natural hair excessively, EVENTUALLY cut it off due to damage. Save yourself the trouble. Find a great wig. And if you must, straighten every once in a blue moon. Fun fact: Before this time, I didn't straighten my hair for 3-4 years.
• If you can, get a professional 
• Less headache, your scalp gets massaged, and you just have to sit there and look cute. Plus, they have better quality of hair tools needed to get the job done. 
• Take your time
• If you are a DIY aficionado, please take your time. You may damage your hair in the process. 
• If you want your straight hair to last, water is NOT your friend
• Oils can be your friend
• I like argan, castor, and almond oils. A little bit goes a loooonnngggg way! 
• Trim your ends!!!
• This helps the health of your hair soooo much! Let the dead ends go beloved. Let. Them. Go. 

Straight to Kinky-Curly:

• WATER IS OFFICALLY YOUR FRIEND
• Pre-condition hair with conditioner (whatever you use is fine)
• Co-Wash hair (using conditioner to "wash" you hair)
• Hair treatment!
• This is the one step that I will not miss! I use Aphogee's Curlrific Protein Treatment. It helps lessen breakage (if I have any)

Well those are my tips! I do not straighten my hair often. I like different styles and love the feel of my natural hair <3 

Let me know what you guys do in the comments below! 

Talk to you soon. 

Brie. 

Cute! 

Pre-Christmas Dinner Preparations :)

Which Method Works Better During the Winter? LCO vs. LOC Method

Hey!

I hope that you guys are having a great week! I am doing well! The holidays are here! It is freezing in Chicago, and I have a bit of a busy weekend ahead of me, but it will be okay. :)


Have you guys ever heard of the LOC method? NO? Okay.

The LOC method (leave-in conditioner, oil, and cream respectively) is used to retain moisture in hair. It has been very successful with a lot of natural-haired women. The LOC method works year round, especially during the winter months. In the book, The Science of Black Hair: A Comprehensive Guide to Textured Hair Care, the author, Audrey Davis-Sivasothy, mentions this method as well. Ideally, this method is used after washing ones hair. After washing the hair, the individual applies a leave in conditioner, an oil, and a cream based product of their choice. They finally style their hair as normal.

Although the LOC method has been significantly successful, I prefer to do things a different way. During the winter, I will wash my hair as normal. Afterwards, I will apply a leave-in conditioner, hair cream, and an oil-based product of my choice. This is known as the LCO method (can you believe that there are terms in reference to natural hair? lol).
I prefer the LCO method. It seems to penetrate my thick hair more when done this way. I have also noticed that it feels less greasy.

You can choose any one of these methods WITHOUT breaking the bank. Choose an oil that you like. Choose a leave in conditioner. Choose a hair cream. Wash, rinse, and repeat (pun, intended!). For example, I am currently using Aphogee Leave-In Spray, my homemade hair cream (which I am STILL perfecting!), and Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade.

Frankly, whatever method that you decide to choose, do your research beforehand. Whatever route you choose to take, I just want you to have healthy, moisturized hair. <3



Talk to you soon.
Brie.

Humectants!

Hello!!

I hope that everything is going well for you. Me? Oh ya know...work, striving to be better on my health journey...all of that fun stuff lol 

This blog will be about....HUMECTANTS!!! Humectants are an ingredient found in hair products that attract moisture from the environment. This ultimately moisturizes your hair. When I first became natural, humectants were my saving grace during the winter time. I would experiment with different styling products and applications, realizing how buttery soft my hair became (no lie, ask my momma). I did not understand what the heck a humectant was until after researching the ingredients of my hair products. 

Natural hair is already fragile. However, during the winter months, natural hair can be as fragile as Derrick Rose's joints (yes, I am from Chicago. I still said what I said). Winter is when one really has to be extremely vigilant with hair care. This is where humectants come in: they provide some assistance in circumventing hair breakage with their moisture-attracting qualities. There are two categories of humectants: synthetic and natural humectants. 

Synthetic:

• Butylene glycol
• Glycerin
• Urea
• Tremella extract
• Sorbitol
• Dicyanamide
• Sodium PCA
• Sodium lactate

Natural:

• Hyaluronic acid
• Aloe
• Alpha hydroxy acid
• Honey
• Seaweed, algae, and other marine extracts 

  

Ideally, natural humectants are recommended. However, synthetics work just as well (please keep in mind that synthetic humectants have the potential to dry your hair out over a period of time).

Be sure to check your products and see if some of the ingredients are a humectant. You will definitely be one step closer to moisturized hair in the winter time :). 

I hope that this helps! 

Talk to you soon. 

Brie. 

Winter Protective Hair Styles!

**DISCLAMER: Bear with me, I am currently in the process of deciding which weekday to publish my blog posts. I recently did a bit of research, and discovered that my posts can garner more engagement instead of Wednesday.

This article may just be the start of another series of blog posts(?) I realized that some people may not know what to do with their natural hair during the winter. I LOVED styling my hair during the winter months. LOVED. IT.  If it sounds like something you guys would be interested in, let me know in the comments below! Also let me know via Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram <3**

 
Hey! I hope that your Thanksgiving was lovely <3. My Thanksgiving was nice: low key, and relaxing. I did not cook this year, but I will more than likely cook for Christmas. Needless to say, I am EXCITED. I will be the black INA GARTEN and you all will deal!!!! 

This blog post will be about protective hair styles during the winter.

Protective hair styles are amazing. It is defined as a style that conceals the ends of the hair protecting them from damage due to overexposure to the elements, friction, etc. They assist in hair retention, moisture (if properly moisturized), and different desired aesthetics. Fun fact: a lot of the hair styles that were mentioned in my previous blog post are considered to be protective hair styles! They are great for people who are striving to grow their hair, yet love a great haircut (ahem, me). They can be worn at any time of the year. A lot of naturalistas, however, wear them during the colder months, where natural hair is more prone to breakage.

Protective Hair Styles 

• Buns

I love this look! <3 :)



• Twists

I WILL be attempting this soon! So cute :)

• Braids

Gorgeous right?! This picture is perfect. <3

• Crochet

Faux Locs, Straight, Kinky, Wavy, Twists, etc. I LOVE crochet!!!

• Weaves

Baby, this is LAIIIDDDDDD

• Wigs



Chile y'all are doing witchcraft with these wigs; I didn't know that this was a wig! :0







The great thing about protective styles is that they can be worn for a period of time. This also helps if you are busy and do not have time to style your hair. It is STRONGLY recommended that you fully moisturize (treatments, deep conditioning, etc.) your hair (ESPECIALLY your ends!) prior to styling.  The key to protective styling is keeping your hair ends moisturized. I hope that this helps. <3<3<3

Talk to you soon.
Brie. 

K.I.S.S. Naturals: The End!

Hello!!!!!

I hope that you all are doing well!

Excuse me for the brief MIA (missing in action), the last week or so has been kicking my butt (work, adulthood, and life) :).


This post will be a short one, but this will be the final post of the K.I.S.S. Natural Series! I just want to thank anyone that stumbled upon my blog, shared, liked, or commented on my natural hair blog. Even if you felt that it didn't relate to you (someone actually told me that lol), you still checked out my site.



It is thoroughly appreciated. I hoped to inspire and provide some insight and encouragement to women (even men!) who wanted to pursue natural hair. I wanted to provide a series of posts that provided a simple guide amidst the vast amount of information out there. I wanted to provide anyone with the tools to feel empowered on their natural hair journey. Hair is not supposed to be an overwhelming stressor. It is not complicated.



So again, this is the last post of the series. I hope that you enjoyed! I will be back on November 29th with a new post. Enjoy your holidays!



Talk to you soon.
Brie.

Always #KISSANATURAL ;) xoxo

K.I.S.S. Naturals: Natural Hair Resources

Good afternoon!

I hope that you guys are having a great week! We are getting closer to the weekend, thank goodness!

This is going to be a fairly quick post, mostly composed of links about natural hair. Most of them are blogs, and of course YouTube. Be careful with YouTube: it can be a rabbit hole. You start with one video, and it can turn into a few hours on YouTube LOL

Blogs:

http://www.afrobella.com/ (the OG of natural hair blogging!)
http://simonedigital.com/
https://www.naturallycurly.com/
http://www.4chairchick.com/
http://www.curlynikki.com/
http://blackgirllonghair.com/

YouTube (natural hair bloggers):

BeautifulBrwnBabyDol:  http://www.youtube.com/user/BeautifulBrwnBabyDol
MahoganyCurls : http://www.youtube.com/user/MahoganyCurls
Naptual85: http://www.youtube.com/user/Naptural85
Sporty Afros: http://www.youtube.com/user/SportyAfros
Nappy Headed JoJoba: https://www.youtube.com/user/nappyheadedjojoba
My Natural Sistas: http://www.youtube.com/user/MyNaturalSistas
Nikki Mae: http://www.youtube.com/user/Nikkimae2003
Chime (Hair Crush): http://www.youtube.com/user/HairCrush

For my Loc Sistas: 

Jasmine Rose: https://www.youtube.com/user/JazzyTe007
Keisha Charmaine: https://www.youtube.com/user/OverXposedKC91
Franchesca Ramsey: http://www.youtube.com/user/chescalocs

Of course there are many more people out there in the internet, but these are the people/sites that I check out from time to time. Also, a lot of the natural hair bloggers were starting their careers when I first went natural. It is pretty cool to see their careers and lives evolve. <3

I hope that this helps you start and feel more encouraged to become natural!

Talk to you soon.
Brie.

K.I.S.S. Naturals: Confidence in Natural Hair

Hello!! Are you having a great week so far? I hope so!

One of the main concerns that I hear often, is how difficult it is being comfortable or confident wearing natural hair. I cut off all of my hair at the end of 2009, and did not fully wear my hair out for four months. Frankly, I was scared and I did not like the reactions that I received with my natural hair. I was used to my hair length, and I did not know HOW to style my hair.

Quick backstory: I am from Mississippi, and grew up in a very sheltered, conservative, and deeply Christian based home. I also grew up having my relaxers every 6 weeks like clockwork lol. When I cut my hair, it was assumed (by some relatives) that I was a lesbian, and going on a downward spiraling path to destruction. -__________________________-
I was also made fun of for having nappy hair, being told that I should use my hair to scrub tubs and mop floors. It also didn't help that when I went out in public, non-blacks did not hide the fact to gawk at my head. People (black, white, and in-between) were being rude, and OBNOXIOUSLY ignorant, only intensifying the insecurities that I hadn't yet sort through.

I installed twists, and even the stylist (who was African) had something to say. I was OVER IT DO YOU HEAR ME??!! After four months of twists, I literally said, "F*CK THEM. I'm wearing my hair out and I DARE A M*THAF*CKA have something to say". I decided from that point on, I was going to wear my hair out REGARDLESS of the responses it would incite. I figured that, "Hey, it's MY hair. If people are THAT bothered with my hair, they are more than free to pay for a relaxer (fun fact: they never did)." At first wearing my hair out was uncomfortable, but it became easier. I learned that people tend to play on your insecurities if you let them. People will also back off when they realize that their opinion doesn't stand up next to your convictions.

It is a LOT easier now to become natural compared to when I first started. This is due to the social media communities encouraging natural hair.

So to condense this post, I will give you some tips for how I learned to wear my natural hair in confidence.

• Remember your reason why you decided to become natural
• Keep in mind that your natural hair is in fact beautiful. No matter how short, nappy, or kinky the texture. 
• People's negative opinions are just that: OPINIONS. Some people will solicit opinions or comments because THEY are scared, choose to be negative, or are jealous that you're doing something that they may want to do. Their comments/opinions can also stem from a place of insecurity. 
  • While you strive not to take negative opinions seriously, please do not hesitate to let a person know that you are not the one for disrespect. Yesterday. Today. Many days. Always. 
• Find people who are on the journey along with you! There is comfort and support in numbers. 
• Find inspiration! I was always on YouTube trying out new hair styles and reading articles. 
• Natural hair is a process. Being uncomfortable with the length, and the learning curve of figuring out hair styles. It is all a process: the awkward stage of natural hair is only temporary. 
• Confidence takes time. For me, it was deliberately placing myself in places where I KNEW that I would be gawked at. For you, it may be different. And that's okay. <3

This picture is so cute! <3 

If you have any tips, please comment below! If you read all of this, you are appreciated. lol 

Talk to you soon. 

Brie.