Summer Hair Trend: Top Knot Bun

I stopped doing boring librarian buns since last year! I admit they helped out in my journey a lot by preserving my ends. But they were just so boring and unattractive, so I stopped doing them. About a month ago, I needed a cute protective style to put my hair in while I waited to get my summer sew-in. Wigs were out of the question because I really didn't feel like buying a wig at the time. I wanted to wear my real hair. One day I was browsing the Forever21 website and noticed how a lot of the models had their hair up in cute high buns. I started to get a little interested. Then of course, I went on Youtube and researched. I found a lot of videos of girls rocking the "Top Knot" bun. It's such a cute, classy style, and also chic! I decided to give it a try. I washed my hair and air dried. I wanted my hair to have a lot of volume so that my bun will be bigger. Since my hair is thick, I actually had to put it into 2 ponytails and connect them together to form one ponytail. I made sure the ponytail sat directly on the top of my head. I took the hair hanging out of the ponytail and wrapped it around. Then I secured it with bobby pins and voila! I had a cute high bun. Pics below!

Models rocking the Top Knot bun @Forever21.com

My Top Knot *No hair added* :)

Give it a try! I got a lot of compliments with this style. It's cute, fun, and a quick fix if you're in a hurry to go somewhere and you want to look nice. If your hair is shorter and/or thin, you can always use some weave that matches the real texture and color of your hair and wrap it around your ponytail and pin it down with bobby pins. Hope you like it!

Summer Braids

2011 seems to be the year that braids are making a comeback! Not just any braids, but Janet Jackson "Poetic Justice" inspired braids, or Patra braids. The braids have to be long waist length to follow the trend. I did a post about this trend earlier this year. Lately, Solange Knowles has been rocking these braids a lot and I believe she bought the style back. These braids are very Bohemian chic and are a perfect style to wear this summer. My sister took down her weave not too long ago and didn't know what to do with her hair next. I suggested she did her hair in long box braids. She loved the fact that these style of braids are making a comeback and quickly decided to let me braid her hair. I didn't braid her hair in the traditional fat bulky big parting old school braids. I added a modern twist to it by making the braids and parting smaller. I also burned the ends to help preserve the style since she said she plans to leave them in for 4 months. Pics below!

My sisters hair before I started the long braiding process

A couple hours later
ALL DONE! Took forever but I'm glad the outcome came out good! Waist length, medium sized braids. I used 8 1/2 packs of Zury Kanekelon fiber hair.
I did a side parting for her.
She wanted the ends burned since she plans to leave them in for 4 months.
Trying to show you the size of the parting and the braids. They're medium sized.
Side View
Do you want to change your look this summer? Give these a try!

My Next Hairstyle.

It's not even summer yet here in New York, and it already hit 98 degrees the other day....in Spring!! That's crazy..it's way TOO hot for this time of year. Imagine when Summer is actually here, how HOT it will be! I don't even wanna think about it...

Anyways, for this upcoming Summer, I need a hairstyle that will not only keep me cool but also make me look fierce of course! I need a style that stays out of my face and off of my back and shoulders. At first I wanted to get a curly sew-in using Bobbi Boss hair. But I came to realize that I need to save as much money as possible and quick, because I wont be working that much anymore in a few months since I plan on going to school full time. Using human hair is out of the question because I need hair that can last me a long time with out matting and tangling. Sadly, curly hair is out of the question for summer since the hair I want is kinda pricey. To save money, I decided to re-use my Indique hair for the third time....yes I said third...that hair is good! It can last for up to 1 year! After this install, I'll throw it away since it will be a year since I first got it..but Indique hair is a great investment ladies!

Since the hair I'm using is straight, I have to get a straight style. So I decided to go with a....drum roll please............

Asymmetrical A-line bob with side swept bangs!

Ok ok...I know I said before that I didn't want any hair on my face, but this style has side swept bangs so I don't think they'll really bother me since they don't fully cover my whole forehead. Besides, in the summertime, I don't spend a lot of time outside anyways. I'm mostly inside with the AC on during the day, and I go out at night when it gets cooler, so side swept bangs should be fine. There's something about this hairstyle that emulates style, class, sophistication and sex appeal..I love it! It's also a great style for summer. I was inspired by a couple of celebrities who rocked this hairstyle.

Check them out!

Keri Hilson
(I dont want my hair this short..just a 'lil longer but you get the idea)

Taraji P. Henson

Kelly Clarkston

Nicole Richie
(I would prefer this a little shorter with more layers but you get the point..I hope!)
Lauren Conrad
I hope you guys get the idea! I'm hoping to get the sew-in during the end of the month. I'm in the process of preparing my hair to make it strong to withstand the sew-in. :)

My Sew-In with Pin Curls!

I got a sew-in installed last Sunday [March 6, 2011]. It is exactly 1 week and 1 day old. I used the same hair from my last sew-in and also got the same Kim Kardashian inspired hairstyle..I love love love that style! Saturday night, I decided to curl my hair for church on Sunday. I sectioned off my hair first. Then, I used a 1" curling iron and got to work! Every curl that I did, I used a roller clip to clip it down. After I finished, I wrapped my hair in a satin scarf and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, I showered, got dressed and took out the pins. I ran my fingers slightly to give it a more natural look. Throughout the day, the curls fell beautifully! I'll explain in another post how I maintain my curls throughout the week.

My hair before I started curling. Excuse my oily face! Ugh

After curling my hair, I pincurled each curl while it was still hot to hold its shape when I take it down.

Right side

Left side..pin curls dont have to be perfect.
The next morning after removing the pins.
Left side..I curled the stray hairs later on.
Right side
Re-curling the hairs that didn't come out well before heading to work.

2011 Trend: Box Braids!

I thought box braids were...#dead for years! Lately, I've been seeing a lot of girls with Kim Kardashian inspired weaves, asymmetrical bob hair cuts, Nicki Minaj inspired blunt bangs with weave, and literally ALL of Rihanna's hairstyles [except for any with the Red hair]. But 2011 started not too long ago, and already an old trend is making a comeback...braids! Check out Solange Knowles and Brandy Norwood's braids so far this year. These braids remind me of Janet Jackson in her Poetic Justice movie. I love them, but I cant see myself with braids anymore...I've moved on to sew-in's now since I find that braids tend to make my ends thin out the longer my hair grows.

Braids are a great way to grow out your hair. It gives your real hair a chance to rest and thrive also while giving you a break from doing your hair every morning. Just wake up and go! But I do recommend washing your braids every 2 weeks, also conditioning them as well. Don't forget to moisturize and seal the braids to nourish your real hair underneath. Make sure that the perimeter of the hair line is not braided too tightly, or else it can lead to breakage at the hairline. These medium sized braids that Brandy and Solange are rocking are a great size if you don't want to spend hours taking them down when it's time to remove them. I think those long braids are chic and unique! The long lengths remind me of something "Boho-chic"..love it!

My protective bun

I am back to wearing my buns! I stayed away from buns for so long because the style is so boring to me. But I realized in order to achieve my goals faster, I need to wear them. I tried something new with my bun yesterday. I added a side braid to the front to give my bun some personality. I like it. I will be wearing my hair like this for the whole summer up until I relax again in November. Speaking of buns, I need to do a tutorial on how i did my bun. I get quite a few requests. If you follow me on Youtube, keep a look out for my bun tutorial!

Front view

Side view


Back view

My first flexi-rod set!

Yesterday night, I did my first flexi-rod set. I gotta admit...I like it! I think this will be one of my staple styles. The only bad thing about it is, I don't know how long it's gonna last me because usually when I sleep on styles like these, my curls turn out flat in the morning :( So I have to sleep sitting down or with my head hanging down from my bed, so that it can last me 2 or 3 days. But other than that, I love it, and I think it's a great low manipulative style and transitioning style (for those who want to go natural). I washed and conditioned my hair like I do every week. After applying my leave-in's, I filled my spray bottle with water and Lottabody setting lotion. Then I parted and detangled each section, and rolled them up with a flexi-rod. I used 28 flexi-rods and that wasn't enough, so I had to use 6 perm rods. Here are the results!

It took me 2 hours to set these and sat under the dryer for 1 hour and air dried overnight.

After removing the rods and before separating.


Used coconut oil to separate curls

Easter Hair Plans.

For Easter this year, I plan on rocking my first flexi-rod set! I'm gonna use the orange rods because I want skinny curls so that when I separate them, I'll have a head full of bouncy curls. I never did a flexi-rod set before, and of course I learned from watching videos on Youtube. So Saturday night, I will be putting what I learned to work and hopefully my hair will turn out cute for Sunday. Stay tuned! Hopefully it turns out something like this picture.

My favorite Fall hairstyle...bangs!

I really love bangs for the Fall season. I cut them bluntly for the Spring, but the hair on my forehead just made me sweat more. I didn't give myself a chance to wear them often because of the weather issues. Since then, they have grown about 1.5 inches past my eyes. I decided that for the upcoming Fall season, I'm gonna rock side swept bangs. I feel that having bangs for the Fall is very fashionable and also has a way of keeping me warm in a sense lol...Since my blunt bangs grew out, what i will do is sweep them to the side and create side swept bangs. I plan on wearing those beret French hats a lot for the Fall and side swept bangs look great with them. Fall..."hair" i come!

Since the time i flat ironed my hair in July, my hair was basically the same length as Beyonce's weave here. I will wear my hair like this when i relax it soon ;)

If i have to trim my hair, then i believe i will end up at Lauren's length down here. This is also cute =]