Hawaii...Vacation, hair & more

ALOHA!

So...I was in Hawaii the week before last and last week.  I went to Honolulu, Oahu with my boyfriend.  I wore my hair in mini-twists throughout the trip.  It was a versatile style that allowed me to switch up my style and also wash it easily after I got in the water.  Here are some pics...

First picture, sunset on Waikiki Beach.  Second picture, me at the zoo - this is probably the best picture of me and my hair.  The third picture is one of me and a performer at the Polynesian Culture Center, she's Samoan, and they (YES, THEY as a people) have BEAUTIFUL HAIR.  Her hair was waist-length.  You can see that there is some texture to it.  I just had to take a picture with her!  If I feel "down" about my hair, I will think of her for inspiration!  The last picture is my boyfriend and me at the Waimea Falls water fall/botanical garden.

Hawaii was a beautiful, relaxing, fun adventure.  I would definitely recommend for anyone to go.  It's as expensive as YOU want it to be.  We did a lot of hiking and beach exploring, which is all free!  We had a wonderful time!

Peace,

Monique

I'm BACK!!!

Hello Everyone,

GOSH, I've missed this!!!  This is a brief update to let everyone know that I'm still alive, lol!  I'll be back soon with updates on: Vacation hair - how I maintained and a 6-month update.  It's time for a length check.  Here are some pics to (hopefully) make your Monday brighter :-).

Pics are from a mini-twist twist-out.  I LOVED how this afro turned out!

Minx Nails...apparently I'm late

Hey Everyone,

I'm getting ready for a vacation in LOVELY Honolulu, HI and I leave WEDNESDAY!  I've been running around like a crazy woman prepping for the trip.  As I was prepping, I checked my usual suspects for inspiration for vacation "looks".  As I did this I FINALLY came across the official name for a nail trend that's been out for a while and has been "hot" since 2009: MINX NAILS!

Rihanna sporting Obama Minx Nails

Regular Metallic Minx Nails

I want to minx my nails before my vacation.  Supposedly, they last for 1-2 weeks and they don't chip.  Essentially, it's a nail covering that sticks to the nail via heat.  They're super cute and I'm all in!  Check out the official Minx Nails website here.  Click here to find a local salon so that you too can get Minxed!

PS - Still don't know what I'm doing for my hair for the vacation...so pray for me, lol!

Swoop bangs with my staple style

Like I said, last week, I had hair ADD, lol, my hair was stretched so I had the ability to try a lot of different variations to my traditional styles.  I added swoop bangs to my staple kimmaytube tuck.  Check out the pics.

This worked well!  Normally my bangs hang correctly (down) in the beginning of the day, but by afternoon they're sticking straight out - literally - perpindicular to the ground.  Tucking them behind my ears with a bobby pin proved this style well.  Additionally, you can pin back the bangs to do a general "all-around tuck" style if you don't want hair on your face.

Neat professional bun

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed Memorial Day, I know I did!  It's been a while but I have a lot of new styles that I tried last week (serious hair ADD) so I should be able to post them throughout the week.  Also, I didn't forget about my book series, I'll keep those posts coming too!

Now for the topic at hand...Last week I had to prepare for an uber-conservative event.  So conservative that I was told to remove my nose ring :-0...this was a whole 'nother issue which I won't discuss here...Anyway, point is, I figured if I need to remove my nose ring for this event, I definitely need to make sure my hair matches this conservative event.  I put my hair into a neat bun using no brushes(surprisingly)! I believe brushes ruin hair edges, and mine have always been thin. Here are the pics...

My hair is pushing shoulder length stretched.  This is a great, quick professional style.

Tutorial: Wet hair so that it is damp to pull it back neatly.  Use your hands to smooth the hair to the place where you desire.  Once hair is pulled back use a banana clip to hold hair.  Use hair pins to fold hair back into a bun.

Tips:

1. If your hair is kinky, Stretch your hair prior to doing this style to get the most length *I wore my hair in braids the night before*  Click here to see a kimmaytube video on how to stretch kinky hair - I learned from her :-)

2. If your hair is kinky, don't wet it too much or it will draw up too much and you may not be able to pull it back.

3. If you don't have enough hair for a full bun, fake it!  Check out Curly Nikki, here, for tips on faking a natural bun with a little extra help ;-).

Optional: Use Aloe vera gel to "smooth" edges, tie down with a scarf.  *I don't expect every hair to lay flat, but I did smooth it and tie it down with a scarf so it was fresh in the beginning of the day.*

Book Series: Hair growth and break points

"[Break point] The point at which your hair always breaks is the point at which you may need to change your routine....Think back to the longest your hair has ever grown.  Even if your hair is still at this length, if it doesn't grow any longer this is likely to be your break point."

Excerpt is taken from Chicoro's book titled, Grow It! (Copyright 2009 by Chicoro)

When I read about this "break point" my jaw dropped.  I was quite fascinated with the idea.  I thought to myself..."OH MY GOSH, so my hair grows fast and quite easily until it reaches a break point.  This explains EVERYTHING!!!"  I definitely over-dramatized the point, but, regardless, this idea of a break point is interesting.

Although I have no scientific proof, I do believe I have experienced this in my own personal hair growth.  My hair has always grown to my shoulders with no extra care necessary. Coincidentally, it has never grown more than 1" past my shoulders.  I used to think that this was where my hair just stopped growing (LOL, I laugh at the thought of this now).  However, now I believe this point to be the place where my hair needs some extra TLC.

Chicoro goes on to explain that individual break points vary AND that individuals may have multiple break points.  She says to combat the break points by considering modifying your hair routine and to fortify the ends of our hair!

What do you think about this "so-called break point?"  Have you noticed this with your hair?

For more information on Chicoro and her book, visit her website: http://www.beautifybitbybitgi.com/.

The value of knowledge - New Book Series

For those of you who don't know, I'm an avid Kimmaytube follower!  Her recent vids have been AMAZING and because of her suggestion I purchased two books on black hair growth:

Grow It! by Chicoro

Ultra Black Hair Growth by Cathy Howse

My purpose in reading these books is to enlighten myself :) on black hair growth.  As a chemical engineer, I have the capability to understand the science behind how everything works.  Thus, this new knowledge should help me as I move along my hair growth journey.

Chicoro focuses on natural hair while Cathy Howse focuses on relaxed hair.  I've already finished Chicoro's book, and I have definitely learned from her book.  I'll highlight some excerpts moving forward.  I'll call these posts "Book Series" so look for more soon!