Hair style!!

This was my hair yesterday. Feel free to duplicate it. It was super easy. I thought I was having a bad hair day but it turned out way better than expected.

 - Here you can see the bang in the front.

-this picture shows the small puff at my crown and the hair pinned towards the middle at my nape

How to:

I did 6 large twists in the nape section of my hair and smaller twists everywhere else with a mixture of Herbal Essences long term relationship leave in/shea butter/and jojoba oil. The next morning I took out all the twists and pulled the front section forward, bobby-pinning it down into a bang. Then I took the middle section and pulled it into a high puff using  pink Eco Styler gel and a boar bristle brush. The back I kept switching from having it all out, pinned to the side, or pinned in the middle. I chose the middle but part of me wishes I had chosen the side lol.

Do you like this style?

Less than three

Ms. Larutan

Marble/Zebra nails?

Originally I was going for a marble type look.. but it became more of a blue and red zebra type thing lol. I ended up liking it this way =]. What do you think?

I used pure ICE nail polish. I don't actually remember where I got these colors but I do remember they didn't cost very much for nail polish. The red shines better than the blue does but both colors are nice hues. Good buys for the price.

Less the three 

<3

Ms. Larutan

Product Review!!

So, I recently took my senegalese twists out. I tried some new products and I have some reviews!! =]

Mill Creek Botanical Biotin Shampoo

-I got this shampoo at The Vitamin Shoppe for around $7.  Its' pH balanced, paraben free, no artificial coloring, and it does not contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. 

Ingredients:

Deionized water, biotin, hydrolyzed keratin, peppermint oil, hydrolyzed elastin, niacin, folic acid, panthenol (provitamin B5), organic aloe vera gel, organic essential oil, jojoba oil, inositol, barley extract, sodium myreth sulfate, cocamydropopyl betaine (coconut oil), octyl dymethyl PABA, steryne/acrylates copolymer, citric acid, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, botanical fragrance.

I liked this product. I don't really like shampoo in general because I haven't found one that doesn't at least strip my hair a little. This one was one of the better shampoos that I have tried. I liked the lather and the tingle it left on my scalp. I would give this product 3.8 out of 5 stars. 

Aubrey Organics Honey Suckle Rose Conditioner

- I got this Conditioner from The Vitamin Shoppe for around $9. It's not too thin and not too thick, its' just about the right consistency of product. I would suggest using this as a deep conditioner to make it last because of the price and the consistency of the product.

Ingredients:
Coconut fatty acid cream base, organic aloe vera, organic shea butter, wheat germ oil, organic jojoba oil, organic Rosa Mosqueta Rose Hip Seed Oil; extracts of fennel, hops, balm Mint, misltletoe, camomile, yarrow, chrysanthenum, angelica, forsythia and magnolia; honeysuckle oil, carrot oil, Aubrey's Preservstive (citrus seed extract, vitamins A, C and E).

I LOVED this product. It gave me incredible slip and made my hair feel like silk. This is after JUST taking out my twists. That has been basically impossible for my 4a/b hair. Detangling in my shower was a breeze with this conditioner. Also, this is the only conditioner that I've ever used that has been able to semi-define my coils by it self. I usually have to use other products besides conditioner to have any definition. My hair was very moisturized after deep conditioning with it, including my ends, which has been a problem for me. I give this product 5 out of 5 stars and it is now a staple for me. I suggest that everyone try this product.

Some other products I used:

Jojoba Oil: 4.2 out of 5 stars

Herbal Essences Long term Relationship leave in (cream): 3.8 out of 5 (worked better when I mixed it with Aussie)

*****Aussie Hair Insurance leave in (spray): I did a premature review on this product in Oct. This product is now rated 5 out of 5 stars. Which I normally will not give for products that are not all natural.

*****Raw Shea Butter: 5 out of 5 stars, used for moisturizing, sealing, and stretching my locks. Love this product as well.

Free Natural hair Calenders!!

I came across this thread in the natural hair care section of blackhairmedia.com about these great natural hair calenders! It seems as though http://www.naturalhaircalendars.com/FREE_Monthly_Hair_Calendars.html makes FREE calenders for every month with natural hair care tips on them and they're pretty cute!

The November Calender:

 I always forget the date and what day of the week it is! So if you're like me and count on having a calender, computer, or cell phone near, these calenders might be a cool option for you too. I'm about to print one now!

I'm unsure as to why on the website it says "Coming Soon" though. The November calender is located right on the same page and it says you can get the previous months' calenders as well lol.

**** I'm not affiliated with that website in any way. Promise =]

Less than Three

Ms. Larutan

Ms. Larutan's photo(s) of the Day

Another reoccurring feature idea!

So I love photography. I love finding the right angles, thinking of original photo ideas, recognizing what colors compliment each other best, and all that other photography jazz =]. If I wasn't a broke college student and could buy a professional camera I'd do it in a heartbeat (sigh).... but since I can't lol, editing has become my way to spruce up pictures.

Photo's of the Day:

Some of my photography/editing skills and guess what? I didn't even have to pay the model!!... that's my boyfriend in the pictures ;) lol.

Less than Three

Ms. Larutan

Protective Styling

If you've been reading along you already know I'm protective styling for the winter. I've been sitting/standing/living in these senegalese twists for some time now but they WILL be coming out November  23, 2010 (incredibly excited about that!). I'm still undecided about what my next protective style will be but that's besides the point of this post....


I want to talk about...


The Joys and Frustrations of Protective Styling

A good hair care regimen is likely to include some kind of protective styling (PSing). Whether it be adding hair with extension braids/twists/weaves or wigs, or just keeping your own hair twisted or bunned up. It's important to protect your ends if you are trying to grow your hair or keep your hair healthy in general and that is exactly what PSing is for.

The Joys
Psing can be great. You get to put your hair away and focus on other things while your hair can relax and grow. Of course you still have to make sure you're moisturizing and giving your hair what it needs, but styling no longer has to be a worry for the time being. You don't have to worry as much about if the bad weather is going to suck the life out of your locks or if your clothes are going to proceed to rip and break off your ends. And lastly, my favorite part of PSing, is the reveal. After taking care of your hair and leaving it alone to flourish, you get to shock yourself with beautiful growth or health after the PSing process has come to an end.


The Frustrations
PSing can be a son of a....gun. Putting it simply. If you're like me, protective styling can get very redundant. I get bored out of my mind while protective styling and I begin to miss my hair in no time. When I protective style I try to pick things that I can somewhat change. I wanted long senegalese twists so I could put them up, pin them into styles, and do different things with them. Another problem is that while PSing in styles that require extensions such as braids/twists/or weave (not so much wigs) some feel like they can't effectively treat their hair right. This could be a big problem and could lead to a dreaded SETBACK. A common issue with PSing in extension styles (including wigs) is damage to the hairline. One must be very careful about this. These styles should never be done too tightly and you must make sure to keep your hair cared for underneath them (moisturizing, etc).


Even with the frustrations stated, I believe that protective styling is still far more good than bad. If you don't want to risk damage by PSing in extension styles (wigs seem to have less risk but many are uncomfortable wearing them), you can always bun/braid/ or twist your own hair.

That's all for now.

Less Than Three <3

Ms. Larutan

Thrifty!!

Who loves going to thrift shops???           *Raises hand eagerly!*

I pride myself on my thriftness lol. I love Love LOVE a nicely organized, kept up thrift store. I'm talking about getting primarily one of a kind treasures that can easily become favorite items in your closet. You can find so many different kind of items....from retro, to chic, to modern....and the best thing of all is you wont have to work so hard to buy a new arm and leg because you've sold them on expensive goods. And as if that's not good enough incentive to become thrift savvy, you've never had a true shopping experience until you've had it at a thrift store. There's certain rules to thrift shopping: you can't just go at any time and you can't go thinking you're going to be in and out quickly. You've got to be in the mood for the hunt. Nothing just POPS out at you. All the good stuff is hidden behind or underneath the "it's alright, blouse" or the "I kind of like them, shoes". So when you finally reveal that great find that's been waiting there just for you, there's nothing more satisfying and exciting!

Ok...I might be exagerating a little, lol, but you understand what I'm getting at. There's no great find like one found at a thrift store. =]


So I'll be debuting some of my frequent Thrift Store finds as a reoccuring feature on here as well.

Thrifty Debut # 1:

Appropriately Named:
"A Cool @$$ Sweatah"

I've got to admit... this sweater is only one of many sweaters I've purchased from my favorite thrift store and it's not even my favorite one of the bunch but because it was the last one I purchased and it gave me the idea for the post, I felt it should be honored as the first item shown. I may have to come back to show some of my older cool sweaters... not to mention alot of other items I've rescued too. =]

Less than Three!

Ms Larutan

Hair-DO or Hair-DONT

I'm gonna start a reoccuring feature on my blog entitled: Hair-DO or Hair-DON'T


What the feature will consist of: Whenever I find a style that I want to mimic I'll put the inspiration up here and try to recreate it...probably with a little alteration to it. I'll also put up a picture or video of my verion of the recreated style. If  I like the style I'll proclaim it a hair-DO, if it's a complete failure or I don't think I'll be doing the style very often it'll be proclaimed a Hair-DON'T. I'll also say what I liked or disliked about the style as well.


So..without further adieu!!!

Janelle Monae Inspired Hair-------DO!

Inspiration:

Style Recreated/ Altered:

How I wore it out later that night:

Verdict: I loved this style! I wore it on halloween to go with my 1920's Flapper Theme but it could easily be worn out at other outings. It was very edgy/funky and complimented my headshape.
How-To: It was not hard to do at all. I french braided the back upwards and pinned it down. Then I preceeded to pull all the loose braids forwards and twist them backwards into a bun shape. I then pinned the bun shape down in the middle. Sounds harder typed out than it actually was.
Downfall: I guess the hairstyles' only downfall would be that it isn't very conservative friendly, not really a go to church.... or run for presidency type of hairstyle lol.
The Obvious Alteration: I had to do it with my senegalese twists cause I'm still protective styling right now but it is definitely something I'd try out with my natural hair as well.

Hope you liked my first hair-DO or hair-DON'T post!

Less than Three

Ms. Larutan

Importance of Moisture

            DRY                               MOISTURIZED

I know..I know...

If you've researched hair care techniques you've heard this a million times before, "make sure you moisturize". It's probably going in one ear and out the other by now and I don't blame you. However, because it's so important I felt like I had to say it one more time.

Moisturizing and sealing are the number one best thing you can do for curly, coily, and kinky hair textures. No one could ever scientifically back up saying that their hair does better when its dry and brittle. Hair breaks and becomes unhealthy when its dehydrated so moisture is key. However, just adding moisure is not enough for curly/coily/kinky textures. This is because the natural oil produced in our scalps (sebum) cannot effectively coat/and lock in moisture as well as straighter textures. It is harder for sebum to flow down the swerves and angles of our hair strands. This is why we must seal in the moisture manually with other oils (some frequently used oils are Olive oil, Coconut oil, Jojoba oil, and Castor oil). Because there is less sebum being distributed naturally on the hair strands the further we get from our scalps, we have to pay close attention to the ends of our hair when both moisturizing and sealing.

Benefits to Moisturizing and Sealing:
1. Health: moisturizing and sealing keeps your hair healthy. Dry and brittle hair is damaged hair. The hair strand splits and breaks if not properly cared for.
2. Hair growth: Moisturizing and sealing protects your ends. The less likely your ends break, the more likely your hair will retain growth.
3. Shine: Because curly/coily/kinky textures don't reflect light as easily the extra oil helps to give our hair more sheen/shine and appear even healthier.

4.Curl Pattern: If you're natural or texturized and are interested in having curl definition, moisture is essential. Generally, the more moisturized your hair is the more defined your curls/waves/coils/and crimps will be.

Sorry for the haircare repeat. Hope it helped anyway.

~less than. three ~

<3

Ms. Larutan

Are having natural hair inspirations bad?

When motivational becomes harmful.


The Motivation:
I've seen some ladies who look at others' hair and just strive harder to achieve whatever it is that they are admiring, whether it be a style, length, thickness, etc. A lot of the time these natural inspirations really do help to remind us naturals to keep up with our hair care, assure us that our hard work is not in vain, and remind us that our hair can reach great lengths and health. However, there's a flip side to this as well. Looking at too many pictures of wonderful gorgeous hair and comparing yours to theirs could be harmful.


Part of the problem:


My own experience: When I was merely transitioning to natural hair, I was searching through all sorts of fotkis, blogs, and hair inspiration threads on forums all over the internet. The pictures definitely gave me more will to achieve what I wanted. 


However, after I BCed and my true curl pattern presented itself, I began to notice something. My 4a/4b hair was nothing like MOST of the pictures I frequently ran into while searching for large, lovely, professional images of natural hair. I mean of course there were some ladies with my texture but the majority were not. My hair did not look and could not do some of the things in the images that had been readily available to me. I became aware of this and was perfectly fine with it after certain style failures lol. However, many ladies might not be able to be "fine" with this fact and so they end up going back to the box... box of relaxer that is. 


This is a sad occurrence. No woman should have to feel like her hair is too coarse or even too silky for that matter. There shouldn't be any preferences in photos or images in the media but of course me writing this wont change anything any faster. Although the media does seem to be getting better at presenting all types of textures, I can't watch TV without seeing a natural in a commercial lol, there still seems to be an unequal presentation of curl patterns. Those with 3c and below types are shown far more often than those with 4 textures. This is why I believe any person planning on going natural should really learn to love their hair before they chop so they wont be deterred by what ever coils/curls/ or kinks that show themselves later.


The Answer to the Question:
So basically the answer to the question: "Are having natural hair inspirations bad?" is yes and no. It is yes if you're inspiring to have the exact hair of another person because every head of hair is different just like every person is different and you will probably end up disappointed. However, the answer is no if you're only using them for outside motivation and to remind yourself that natural hair is beautiful in all its different varieties.


I , while I have no problem with looser textures what-so-ever, find myself having inspirations of those with hair types similar to my own. It's just better motivation for me to see hair similar to mine being long, luxurious, and healthy.


I'll leave off by showing my ultimate hair inspiration at the moment, Mahogony Boisseau. Beautiful girl with beautiful natural hair:

That's all for now

Ms. Larutan