Scarlet Xianne

Hey guys, how you doing? I finally got round to doing my first perm rods set. I stumbled on some cold wave rods sometime ago. Finally! After months, abi years of searching for them here in Akure. I got a pack of twelve for 150 naira. I know right! I was not expecting it to be so cheap. I unravelled the rods the next day and got this.  I got a bit of tangling though while trying to unravel. Some strands of hair got ripped off and remained on the rods. That's when I noticed the rods have some raised points on them. They dont have a smooth surface. I'd have to be more careful the next time I use them, so I don't lose hair.                                            By the next day, see what was left of the curls. I decided to put my hair in a quick protective style after the hair started to shrink and poof. That's it guys. Till next ...

Hey guys, if you read my Naomi boom  post you'd remember I said this post was coming. So I pre-twisted some hair using Brazilian wool earlier and I've been keeping it for when I'd need it. Well, the need arose when I took out the Naomi boom because it was too bulky for me. I used 3 packs of the wool and I got about 80 braids in all. My corn rows were 10 or 9 and a half, because I joined two to form my part on the side. After attaching all 80 braids, I realised it was not enough. What I did was to use my leftover expression hair to make about 8 more braids. I was now able to cover up places I thought needed covering. The next time I'm doing medium sized, I'll make the corn rows smaller. I crocheted the braids using a Bobby pin. It took me a while to figure out how to face the braids to make it bob in the way that I wanted. Note that to achieve the bob look, you have to braid tight. I rocked the style for about three weeks and it still looked good when i took i...

So, in my last post I told you guys about my hair challenges and the temptation to relax my hair. Well, I went relaxer shopping and I relaxed my hair... NOT. Haha, I really did go relaxer shopping but right there in the midst of it, I changed my mind. I couldn't bring myself to buy it. Nope. This was after doing some serious research on texlaxing. My mind was pretty much made up. I was going to texlax my hair. I was really excited about the coming change. Went to the market and I just couldn't bring myself to go through with it. Guess I wasn't ready for the change after all. I then decided to do what I should have done in the first place ; put my hair away. I got two packs of Naomi boom, amongst other things from the market with which I made crochet braids. I did about ten corn rows to the back. I joined two in front to make a side part. Sorry, I couldn't take a clear picture of the corn rows. I crocheted the twists using a big bobby pin. It wasn't so easy ...

For the first time since I've been natural I attempted to straighten my hair. I washed and deep conditioned and then got to the task. I blow dried first using a blow dryer with comb attachment. I did this in sections and made a loose twist of each section as I went. Then I straightened each of those sections when I was done with the blow drying. It took quite sometime. Especially as the power holders took and brought back power in between:-) . I almost gave up but I trudged on. I Bantu knotted each section after straightening. Only for me to finish and my hair was already reverting. All my labour.... Just poof! My hair merely looked blow dried, not straightened. Sigh. I had to bun it when what I really wanted was to flaunt it and show off my length. The struggle! Guys, it's getting more difficult to take care of my hair. I don't know how much of this I can take before I backslide o. Right now, it's really tempting to get a tub of relaxer. I'm just tired. I'...

The other day,  in the process of filling a form in a public office I was asked my age. I was like "errrm... I was clearly wracking my brain, trying to remember my age. One of the officials said, "you don't know your age?",staring at me in surprise. I quickly gave what I thought was my age which she promptly wrote down but on a second and deeper thought I realised it was the wrong age! I remembered my birth year, I had just lost count of the past few years. I had to do quick maths. 2016-(the year I was born)=my current age. Aha! Finally got it. Told the lady and she cancelled the previous one and wrote the right one :-). I promise I'm not making this up. I can't believe it myself. I forgot my age.  So, here's why I think it happened. One, I just lost track of the years. Yeah, that can happen. Two, I've got a lot on my mind (don't ask me what). Three,.......  I stopped counting! Which would not have happened if I was still single. Being...

I used Expression crochet braids for a client recently and thought I'd try it out as a crochet wig. I had damaged my Afro/curly wig when I decided to give it a haircut and so needed another one.  Expression Multi seemed like a good extension to use. I got a pack of the extension(blame my alaroroism :-)), plus I really thought it would do. I also got a mesh cap. Then work started in earnest. It turned out one was not enough and it was late Saturday evening. The store where they sold weaves close to my house would have been closed already. So, I decided to curl the straight extension I had left from making my braid wig. I do not have perm rods. How was I going to do this? Whatever method I was going to use had to give me curls consistent with the ones in the extension. Well, I curled the extension  by wrapping it round my used kinky extensions like I was doing faux locs. My first attempts gave my tighter curls than I wanted so I spaced my wrapping and this gave me...

I've wanted to have a braids wig for some time now and making my own seemed like the best option. Then came the wahala of getting a good wig cap. Y'all know the normal wig cap is too light/weak/soft and can't take the weight of braids or twists. Another cap known as dome cap is usually used. It comes in a pack that says Dome cap. I went searching for this cap in the market here in Akure and couldn't find it. I was now left with option B. Option B was using that net cap we used back in the day and still use (satin cap or scarf is better for your hair though). Using this cap meant I would first crochet the extension to the cap before braiding or twisting. I went with twisting. I used two packs of Expression Rich Braids (the big pack). I had a little left though. Guys, I have to tell you it's a lot of work. The cap has a lot of holes and I tried to make sure no hole was visible. I think I succeeded. The thread used in knitting the cap however, was another thing....

I'm back again.  Today I'll  be talking hair. Again. I know I've been talking a lot about hair lately.  Make una no vex. Better hair than nothing,  abi? Plus,  I really love hair, and talking about hair. So I want to confess. A few months ago I grew really tired of my hair. It has not been easy. From suffering setbacks to postpartum shedding to a lack of good stylists and hair products, to not having enough time.... I almost threw my hands up. I even considered relaxing. Then I remembered the reason i went natural. Straight hair no longer appealed to me. I considered texlaxing. At least I'd have some texture. Then i saw what freshly washed texlaxed hair looked like. Nah ah. Plus,  I'd still do almost everything I do as a Natural? Finger-detangling too? Just add a texlax that I'd have to do myself(cos i can't trust anyone here to do it), every few months. Mbanu. I contemplated getting a hair cut. I went to google and really liked what saw. Then I vi...

For the longest time i wanted to have a length-check t-shirt. I hadn't gotten round to getting one when Dabs of Naija Hair Can Grow started taking entries for her 'six inches in one year challenge', which I wanted to be a part of. One of her criteria was that you had to send a 'before' picture with a length-check T-shirt. Deadline for submission was close, did not know how I was going to get one where I live. So I decided to improvise. You know how they say necessity is the mother of invention.... I dug out one white T-shirt I had used during NYSC. I know, I really need to dispose of some cluster, sigh. Anyways, I got a marker, ruler and a measuring tape and got to work. I first marked the inches as dots at the back of the T-shirt. One dot on the left, another on the right, then I joined them using a ruler(makeshift). Then I numbered it. I continued till I got to the hem of the T-shirt. I wish I had pictures to show every step but lost the ones I took. Below ar...

Heys guys, how you been? So a few weeks ago, I decided to try out a flat twist out. I'd washed my hair and put it in flexi-rods and a few plastic rollers, which I let stay on overnight. By the time I took out the rods and rollers the next afternoon, the parts of my hair where I used flexi-rods were still not dry and had no curls :(. I got opposite results where I used rollers though. Anyways, after plenty brainstorming, I decided to do a flat twists in front and jumbo normal twists behind. I wore my hair like this for a few days before unraveling to give me a half twist-outs/flat twist-out style. What do ya think? Was it a hit or a miss? Please let me know in the comment box :-).