DIY Hair: New Hair do ...BLT

Hey loves,
What a week it has been. I've got a new hairdo: I've gone back to box braids, but with a twist.
for most people box braids are considered as a protective style, but it's more than that. For me, styling my hair is a way of self-expression. My personality and creativity show through how I look. I'm lucky in that I don't work in corporate environment; academia is pretty lax when it comes to personal appearance, you just need to be "not naked"...we're only interested in your grey matter...end of story.

So those who've been following me for a while know that I love to wear fashion colour braids; it's just more fun.

I got my inspiration for this look from @the_haircologist Moné save my hair on instagram; she's a celebrity natural hair stylist based in Atlanta, Georgia. I started following her work becuase i love how she installs Goddess locs, bohemian and gypsy locs. So a couple of weeks ago she uploaded a post on a new style that she calls the BLT (not the snadwich type ...Bacon, lettuce and tomato) which stands for Braids, Locs, and Twists. Here's the image

Beautiful! @the_haircologist BLT Braids.Locs.Twists 

I've done a combination of two extensions at a time; braids & locs or twists & locs but not all three, so I was pretty exicted to try it out. I obviously don't have the money for a return flight to Atlanta and I'm not sure about finding a hairstylist locally that will do it exactly the way I want it, so I did it myself.
I decided to use Darling Superstar extensions [colours #500 and bleu] that my friend purchased while she was home in Cameroon visiting family.

Darling Superstar used for braids and twists in the colours #500 and bleu *

Cuban twist hair in the shades teal/black and blue/black were used to wrap briads for locs #

I prepped my hair by washing, deep condtioned and applied leave-in conditioner before installing.
It took me all Saturday; I'm a bit out of practice with the box braids (it's been 6 months since I last installed them).
Here are the final results:

Blue hair don't care

They're waist length and I love them. I'll keep them in for about 4 weeks before uninstalling.
For maintenance, I spray my hair with Mandy hair growth mix and oil my scalp alternatively every second day, and I shampoo my hair once a week.

Where to purchase?
In South Africa: you can buy the darling superstar at most hair supply stores like Jabula and New look cosmetics for ZAR 53.
Freetress Cuban twist hair is available from wwww.haircity.co.za ZAR 130 for 12 inches and ZAR 150 for 16 inches.

What do you think of my new hair? Is it worth the day of toiling?

See you in my next post,

xoxo

New Look: Blue Hair & Bold Lips

Hey everyone, 
One of the ways I get to wear bright fashion colours in my hair (without bleaching my hair within an inch of its life), is to install braids in the desired colours. 
My go-to protective style since graduating from high school many many moons ago is box braids. I just love them... I occasionally install senegalese twists or marley twists but I always come back to my beloved box braids. 
I've had quite number of different colours thus far this year: Purple and forest green ombre, and gun metal/silver.  And now I'm rocking blue; it's been 2 years since I last had blue braids, mainly because finding bright colour braids is not easy. 
I purchased mine from Hair City which is based in Gauteng but has an online store... thank God! 
I'm really lucky in that I work in an setting that doesn't set dresscode rules. I do tone it down when I travel to conferences etc. but if I know I'm not travelling for 4-6 weeks then I wear whatever colour I'm in the mood for.

I installed my braids two weeks ago after co-washing with the Shea Moisture African Black Soap Balancing Conditioner.  

 

I combed Cantu for Naturals leave-in conditionting cream through my hair and used Ecostyler Argan oil gel to smooth the hair and blend it into the extensions (both purchased from African-flair). I used 3 packs (cut in half) of X-pression premium kanekalon ultra braid in #blue. It took me about 10 hours to finish (I have a lot of hair. Half that time was spent on my crown).

 

I keep my braids in for a minimum of four weeks and I spray my hair with a growth remedy that contains Aloe vera juice, castor oil, bergamot essence and bay rum. I add peppermint and rosemary essential oils to it as well. 
I try to co-wash/ scalp cleanse every week and I've been using the Purification Masque for the African Black Soap range. I take about a teaspoon of the masque, add water and transfer to a spray bottle to make application easy. Then, I use the balancing conditioner as a leave-in. 

 

So along with brightly coloured hair...I love wearing bold lipcolour.  Here are some looks I've been wearing recently. 

OFRA liquid lipstick in the shade Atlantic City

Stila stay all day liquid lipstick in Fiery

L'oreal Pure Reds Collection in Doutzen's red

I'll do a post on my lipstick collection at some point. 

What do think of my blue hair? What kind of colours do you like to wear in your hair?

Drop a comment below. 

xoxo, 

N