by Nay | Dec 9, 2012 | Mane Styles, Tips
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bold Gold
I’ve got color; yes, I do! I’ve got color; how about you?!
I just love hair color. I think it’s a great way to accent our curls, particularly in the form of highlights. Warning! As much as I love coloring my hair, it was one of the evil culprits that caused damage. Sit back and relax for a quick recap!
History Lesson
Years ago, I would embark on weekly adventures with color, changing my hair from red to blond and back again. That was until my curly mane had enough. It drop-kicked my bottles of developer and dyes and played dead on my head … well, hair is naturally dead (ha!), but this was something entirely different. Over processing my hair through bleach and dyes left it in a limp state.
Just when I began to rehab my curls, I once again decided to get color in the form of highlights. I figured this would be less damaging, particularly since I was seeking the help of a professional stylist. Mistake! The hairdresser, who between breaks of nibbling on her lunch, over processed the front, left section of my hair. This area stopped curling as well, not to mention it was completely colored instead of highlighted! Needless to say, these and other experiences made me walk away from hair coloring.
Still, I just can’t help drooling over other curlies’ expert highlights. It makes me pause and briefly consider another bout with dyes. Fortunately, natural hair blogger Curly Nikki recently flagged a sneaky way in which we can get faux hair color by using cream eye shadow. Boing! That’s the sound of your head rattling. I know. I know. You must be thinking that us natural ladies have lost it again. Here comes another crazy concoction or method of styling. No, actually this one is quick and easy. It’s also a fun way to mix up your look.
Tools:
- Maybelline 24 Hour Eyeshadow, Bold Gold
- Your curly mane, of course! – My hair was styled in a wash and go.
- 10 minutes max
Faux Hair Color with Maybelline 24 Hour Eyeshadow, Bold Gold
Instructions
I literally dug my fingers into this creamy eye shadow (frowning and naysaying along the way), and randomly smoothed it down my strands, twirling it around my finger. I concentrate more of the product on the hairs around my face. I had to use a generous amount since it wasn’t initially apparent on my dark hair. You’ll need to wash and scrub this from your hands and nails. Not too bad, but it can be a little messy.
Appearance
The eye shadow gave my hair a slight shimmer and gold highlights! I was pleasantly surprised. Although the shadow itself is marketed as lasting 24 hours, hence its name as a tattoo, this faded out of my hair throughout the night.
When I woke up in the morning, it was gone! I had to check my pics to remember that I applied it! The only evidence is slight traces of shimmer. This worked perfectly for styling my hair (and eyes) before I headed out to a reggae concert. I think the rocker look is perfect for heading out on the town, but it may be too much for conservative office environments. The choice is yours.
If you give this look a go, please comment and share pics below! You can also view this post and join the conversation over at Curly Nikki.
by Nay | Dec 9, 2012 | Products
Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter Whipped Curl Crème
When I tried Beautiful Textures Leave-in Conditioner months ago, I had such good results that I ran back to my favorite beauty supply store like a mad woman and scooped up the whole product line in eager anticipation of equally good results. Crazy? Who? Me? The leave-in was such a success that it is now my staple, so naturally I placed my bets on the other items in the collection without even trying them. This included Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter Whipped Curl Crème (looong title).
Fortunately, this butter crème, which I’ll refer to as BTB for Beautiful Textures Butter, meets my expectations … provided that I use it just for braid-outs. BTB is marketed as being for mixed textured girls, which you can argue includes all textured tresses. Hmmm … Still on the fence about how I feel about this, but let me break down some of its elements for you.
Price – Cha Ching or Minor Ding?
You can exhale curlie, this one won’t break the bank. An 8 oz jar of this butter crème only cost me approximately $6. That’s it!
Ingredients – Powerful Potions
Okay this list is loooong. It includes a mixture of natural and chemical compounds. BTB is marketed as being enriched in aloe vera (my curly mane loves this, as you know), coconut oil (love!), soy (for hair?? Allllrrrrighty then.) argan oil (the latest oil of the month), shea butter, and mango butter. The full shabang includes: Aqua, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olive Oil, Glycine Soja Oil/Soybean Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, PEG 75 Lanolin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth 20, Cetyl Alcohol, Argania Spinosa Nut Oil/Argan Oil, Cocos Nucifera Oil/Coconut Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit/Shea Butter, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter/Mango Butter, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract/Rosemary Extract, Dimethicone, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract/Aloe Vera, Phenyl Trimethicone, Panax Ginseng Root Extract/Ginseng Extract, Polysorbate 20, Imidazolidinyl Urea, DMDM Hydantoin, CI 15985/Yellow 6, Parfum/ Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, d-Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Lyral, Methyl Ionone Gamma.
Scent – Mmmm or Grrrr?
BTB smells a lot like mangos … which I love! Very delish.
Un-braided hair with BTB, without fluffing and separation
Moisture & Feel – The Goodies
Off-white, peachy in color, this butter has a very light consistency. It is oily and will coat your fingers, but hello! It’s a butter! 😉 Unlike some other products, it does not leave a tacky feeling. On my hair, this does leave a moisturized albeit oily coating. I tend to apply a lot of it, so watch out for the oily build up. In fact, I had to warn a friend, who was admiring my tresses, before she dove her fingers into my hair. She was surprised by the feeling to say the least! This is where you’ll need to decide between the appearance and feeling of your curly mane. Can’t we just have it all?!
Application – Getting The Look
According to the packaging, you should use this to “refresh and hydrate your mixed textured hair every day.” It goes on to say that “Moisture Butter helps maximize the styling options of mixed textured hair by helping achieve softer, more defined curls, healthier looking elongated coils, or simply silky-smooth hydrated hair.”
I tried to use this butter for a wash and go. Hey, I was feeling experimental! However, I didn’t like the oil slick it produced. The best way to use this product is for braid- and twist-outs, as indicated on the package. Sometimes it does help to read directions! While you can use this on your first day braid-outs, I get the best results using this on the second day. Stay with me here.
First Day
I do my typical braid-out with aloe vera gel (AVG) and use this butter lightly over it. As an alternative, you can just layer oils (I prefer Dabur Vatika Oil) over your AVG braid-out, as I usually do, and skip BTB. Still with me? If not, read my review of AVG for detailed instructions.
Second Day
This is where BTB works its magic. I spritz sections of my hair with water, apply a little bit of this butter, and re-braid my hair. In the morning, I do my typical process. I un-braid my hair and briefly blast it with a blow dryer. During this time, I separate my strands and fluff my hair. The blow dryer warms up the butter in my hair. I believe that this enhances my look as well as the penetration of BTB’s butters and oil into my hair.
Third Day
I repeat the process I used on the second day. After this day, I wash my hair because my scalp gets product build up from this butter, and my hair is oilier than desired.
Look – Thumbs Up or Down?
On the first day, my AVG + oil/AVG + BTB combo produces curly waves. In comparison, BTB produces thicker, even more defined waves on the second and third day. Both braid-outs create an elongated style, but the look and thickness differs. My hair is also lighter looking and feeling on the first day, since it is not yet weighed down by the butter. It becomes fuller looking on the second and third day with BTB. I love big hair!
As I mentioned before, I always wash my curly mane after the third day due to the build up and oiliness. My hair also starts to look a bit dirty … whether you’re seeking this look or not is up to you!
All in all, this product has now been initiated into my routine. Braid-outs are my preferred protective style this winter, and this butter is working. I give it thumbs up, as I love the results. However, I am leaving myself room to play and explore other butters. I’ll report back.
You can purchase this at your local beauty supply store or Walmart. Updated 8/7/2024: It looks as if the company has discontinued its butter. If you can locate it online, comment down below to help a curlie.
Do you give Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter Whipped Curl Crème thumbs up or down? Shout it out below. If you know of other butters that are working for you, share and share alike!
by Nay | Dec 2, 2012 | Hair-raising, Uncategorized
Singer Solange Knowles is photographed and included in the November issue of Vogue.
After the hustle and bustle of a crazy work week, I like to kicked back and crack open the latest issue of any fashion magazine. I just need my fashion fix! This time, it was the November issue of Vogue. Did you see it? Do you know where I’m going with this? Well, in case you missed it, I’ve gotcha covered. 😉
There was a reoccurring theme that I noticed in the fashion bible’s pages—curls! Okay, that was an easy one. 😉 True to New York’s Fall Fashion Week, curls popped up in a couple of places beneath Vogue’s covers. Here’s the low down:
There was a spread in which a fair skinned model worked throwback, circa 1950’s dresses and frizzed out hair. It is the same look as if you’re on day 4 of your natural hair, and your curls are in their frizzed out, froey state. The model looked sophisticated and feminine. Her hair worked with the easy, breezy tone of the spread.
Similarly, there was a lengthy profile of former model and legendary fashion editor Grace Coddington. The feature included a professional photograph of Coddington aka “The Cod” with what appears to be her naturally curly hair in a frizzy state (seen below with a flower in hair). While the focus of the article was Coddington’s mark on the fashion industry (she is the person who inspired supermodel Twiggy’s decorative eyelashes), her frizzy haired pic left a mark on me. Her photo once again demonstrated the effortlessly chic way in which natural hair can bring out a woman’s beauty.
Finally, for my highly textured ladies, there was a photo of singer Solange Knowles wearing an ahhh-mazing yellow dress and her hair in a natural state. I know. I know. Solange is known to wear wigs (I’m almost certain this one was among her collection), and there wasn’t a diversity of models with a range of curls shown in the mag.
Here’s the thing. At the very, very least, some sort of texture is being spotlighted and shown to accent high fashion and ready to wear looks. Why is this important? The more that textured hair–particularly afro textured hair–is re-introduced and accepted in the media, fashion, etc., hopefully the less stigma that will get associated with it. Perhaps we can move away from seeing natural hair as risky or solely statement making and more as it being our curly manes in its natural state.
What do you think about fall’s ’fros and fashions?
FYI-For my fashion and photo lovers or just those who love flipping through the pages of Vogue and dreaming, check out the documentary In Vogue: The Editor’s Eyes, which chronicles the magazine’s 120 years.
Photos of models in the November 2012 issue of Vogue magazine.
by Nay | Dec 2, 2012 | Nay's Curly Mane, Uncategorized
My curly mane in November 2012.
In the past, I was obsessed with having long hair without really giving any thought to hair health. While I was dyeing and frying my hair, I didn’t realize that this abuse would prevent me from having lengthy tresses, and boy oh boy did my curly mane let me know. It decided to “break off” our relationship, and my ends decided to split … literally! Hair will grow. It’s length retention that’s the trick and can only be achieved by having healthy hair.
For me, healthy hair means oingy boingy curls that greatly shrink in its natural state. This is opposed to hair that lays dry, limp, and overly frizzed out on my head. This is not like how our curls normally frizzes. I’m talking about the type of frizz that screams moiiiisturiiize meeee (cue high pitched, squealing voice)! Today, my hair is in a much better state thanks to several factors, all of which produce healthy and longer hair.
On Average
It is said that hair grows approximately 0.5 inch per month. Of course you’ll need to factor in your genetics, diet, hair routine, and hair type. If your curls are tight then moisture retention may become an issue, since it is harder for the oils from your scalp to travel down the length of your strands. It is recommended that you regularly apply oil to your hair, sealing in moisture/water. This has been one of the key ingredients in ramping up my hair health and creating much softer curls.
What’s Working
On left, my hair in its natural state in May 2012. On right, my straightened hair in November 2012. Next time, I will compare my length in the same straightened state, so you can better see the progress.
My hair has grown since May 2012. What has changed in my routine? I finally began implementing all the things I typically hear about, understand, but ignored. Please note that I did not implement all these changes at once. I slowly began tweaking my routine as I monitored my hair progress. Here’s what’s working:
- Stop Straightening. As the weather warmed up in May, I stopped straightening my hair and started experimenting with natural styles, as you may have noticed here at My Curly Mane. Now, I truly enjoy going back and forth between sporting straight styles and an afro, but I noticed that a break from flat ironing allows my hair to thrive.
- Press go for wash and go’s. This was my trademark look for the summer, followed by braid outs as a close second. Wearing wash and go’s would normally produce tons of split ends, but when I straightened my hair in November, I noticed that my ends were okay. I believe that I was able to save my strands due to a change in my leave-in conditioner and frequently oiling.
- Leave-in Conditioner & Oils. As noted above, oiling my hair helps to seal in moisture. I can’t stress enough the importance of implementing this in my routine. Try it and see.
- Switcheroo For Shampoos. I switched from harsher, oil stripping shampoos to moisturizing shampoos. I also shampooed my hair less often. This once again aided in my hair’s moisture balance.
- Go Natural. I began relying on products with more natural ingredients. This includes Beautiful Textures Tangle Taming Leave-in Conditioner, Fruit of the Earth 100% Aloe Vera Gel, and Dabur Vatika Coconut Hair Oil.
Measuring Up
To understand my progress, keep in mind that my hair naturally grows in layers. It wants what it wants! In May, my longest strands were bra strap length. Now this is at mid back length, followed by other strands that are bra strap and shoulder length. Measured from the front, my longest strands were above chest length (you get what I mean) in May. They are now just past mid chest length.
Going forward, I want to find out what is the average rate in which my hair grows. My goal is to reach waist length hair. I have never had this in my life and believe that it is attainable so long as my hair remains healthy aka moisturized. Watch out Rapunzel!
If you’re on a journey towards growing your mane (regardless of your current length), let’s do this together. Let’s give it time, so we don’t obsess … well, not too much! Let’s revisit and see how our hair measures up in February.
From left, my curly mane in 2009, 2010, and 2012. Note how much healthier my hair looks now than in 2009, after I cut off the majority of my damaged hair but still had a few rough ends remaining.
by Nay | Nov 18, 2012 | Tools
Above: A Maxiglide XP
Do you remember those infomercials with that clever straightener that claimed to steam as opposed to burning hair while straightening—without blow drying? Better yet, do you remember that those same infomercials featured a curlie with thiiiick, long natural hair, which was steamed straight right before our very eyes? Doesn’t ring a bell? Well, those incessant commercials were for the Maxiglide.
After watching them a million times, I was convinced to purchase a model from the Home Shopping Network (HSN). At first, I didn’t like how its pins (used to separate strands as you iron) snagged my hair and caused split ends, so I put it away and considered it a loss. I waited too long to return it and simply forgot about it. This was during my prime product junkism, and if something didn’t work on demand, I was on to the next!
That was until I re-discovered the Maxiglide a year later thanks to vlogger LeobodyC5 from YouTube. If you’ve seen LeobodyC5 aka big sister in my head, you’ll know that she has amazing, long, natural hair. Trust me. It’s good stuff! After seeing her results, I dug into my closet and dusted off the Maxiglide. I patiently and carefully ran the iron through my hair and loved the results.
The Maxiglide made my hair big, fluffy, and light. It had crazy body and easily produced waves and curls from taking down high buns or roller setting my hair overnight. Even in high humid weather, my hair would revert into bountiful curls. It was also easy to use, as I’d braid out my hair at night and straighten it in the morning. Roller sets prior to straightening always produced the best results.
Now here’s the problem. I used the Maxiglide on a weekly basis. Surprisingly, I was able to return to healthy natural curls, but I also got a lot of split ends. This led to regular trims and barely any length retention due to frequent cuts. All in all it’s a good straightener once you get the technique down and use it on occasion.
Model Drama
In my letter below, you’ll notice that I had a complaint about the changes in Maxiglide’s models. In the last four years or so, the company behind Maxiglide, Maxius Beauty, came out with a cheaper model—the Maxiglide Xpress—which began to replace the Maxiglide MP (smaller sized model) and Maxiglide XP (larger sized model that I preferred). While my XP was working, I wanted to have a backup model (MP or XP) to travel with. Unfortunately, all models are apparently sold out everywhere. It’s not even available on Maxius Beauty’s Website, so I contacted the company. Yeah, I did it! I rang the bell! … Okay, I gently knocked on the door. The conversation went (via email) as stated below.
Sent on April 19, 2012 (I was serious, but a bit silly. Can’t help it!):
Reply from Maxiglide Customer Service on April 20, 2012, following a previous email exchange with them. This response was after I clarified my situation further. Maxius Beauty informed me in their previous email (not included below) that they are launching a new straightener called the Sonicglide. Personal details/name of a company contact was removed for privacy.:
The Low down
I was supposed to track down a copy of my receipt from the HSN (where I once ordered my models from). However, I never got around to doing so, so I can’t complain. I am eagerly awaiting the launch of the Sonicglide. It was supposed to make its debut at the end of May, but it’s nowhere to be found.
As I mentioned in my email, I’m just not completely convinced yet to purchase an InStyler. I’ve read reviews that have made me cautious. I’ve also eyeballed it a few times at Target but walked away from it … yes, I actually said no to purchasing a hair item!
While I patiently await the Sonicglide’s arrival (taps nails impatiently on the table), do you think I should stalk follow up with Maxius Beauty, or have I maxed out this discussion (and use of the word max—ha!)? Let me know your thoughts, and I’ll proceed as you wish.
If you’ve used the Maxiglide or InStyler, please let me know your experience. As you know, comments are always welcomed!
UPDATED (11-21-12): Ding! Ding! I received a message from Masood Max, the creator of the Maxiglide. Apparently, a limited amount of Maxiglides will be available for purchase through Maxius Beauty’s Website, starting Black Friday. Hopefully, the Maxiglide XP will be available. I give Max kudos for following up with us fans. Once again, let me know if you’re able to snag an XP and try it.
UPDATED (1-31-13): Gasp! The Sonicglide is here! You can purchase one at ShopNBC. Thank you, Pooneh, who informed us in the comments below. The only thing that surprises me is that The Sonicglide looks and works like the Maxiglide … except that it vibrates? Hmm … intrigued. I thought this would be a completely different model. What’s funny is that the new promotional video showcases the original hair model (from the older videos), who has a great curly mane. If anyone makes a purchase, please let me know. I may have to snag one for myself, ur, I mean my sister. 😉
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