headband braid

My hair is super thick, so I get layers cut into it to lighten it up a bit.  While layers are great for keeping my hair from giving me a migraine, they're not so great for when I try to wear a braid.  I'm sure it's happened to you - pieces falling out, bobby pinning until you can't feel your fingers.  Not so pleasant.
Well, here's a solution for when you want a side braid and your hair won't cooperate.

Here's how:

1. Put your headband on so that it goes around the front of your forehead - like you're going to wear it boho style.

2. Take pieces from the sides of your hair and flip them through the headband.  I do about two pieces to a side.  How much you use depends on how thick you want the braid to be - for a thicker braid, use less hair on the sides so that there's more in the braid.

3. Take the remaining hair and braid it!  You can do a regular braid, a fishtail, one of those ladder braids I have yet to master... go crazy.

And you're done!  Takes 5 minutes and looks fancy :)

trim yo' bangs.

Let's start with some honesty - I only get my hair cut twice a year at most.  I trim my own split ends at home. When I got bangs, I thought I was going to have to change that habit, and my wallet was none too pleased.  So instead of succumbing to broke-ness, I dug in and researched.  Now, I trim my own bangs - pretty successfully, if I do say so myself.
Here's some pointers to keep your bangs tidy between haircuts, regardless of how few and far between they may be.

1. Cut vertically, not horizontally.  In other words, like this:

Not like this:

Its tempting to cut straight across, because it's one snip and done.  But your bangs will look like a shelf of hair if you do that - not a good look. Cutting vertically in small snips keeps that piece-y look that your hairstylist cut in when you first got them so you look like you got a professional trim, not like an overzealous 5 year old's Barbie.

2. Cut 'em dry.  This is probably the biggest mistake DIY trimmers make.  When your hair is wet, it's longer than when it's dry.  Cutting your bangs wet often leads to chopping off more than you meant to, only to realize it when you dry your hair and it's too late.  Dry cutting makes sure that you're only trimming off what you need to.

3. Keep to the middle.  If you had a good stylist, your bangs aren't a straight shot across your forehead; they're shortest in the middle by a tiny amount, frame your face on the ends, and are blended into the sides of your hair.  We can't recreate that, because we did not attend the same school of hair magic that our stylists did.  When you're trimming, keep most of your snips towards the middle of your forehead, where you bangs are shortest.  That's where the annoying hairs getting in your eyeballs are located anyway, right?  Stay away from the blended sides, because you can't do it.  Believe me, I have tried.  It wasn't pretty.

Follow these three tips and you can cut your amount of trims in half!

Pun intended.

the hair post.

I've been meaning to write this post for a while.  Like most women, I have a love/hate relationship with my hair, and it's a passionate one.  When I love it I really love it, and when I hate it I wonder if I could pull off Natalie Portman's V for Vendetta look.

I'm in the process of growing my hair out, like probably 80 percent of the female population.  If we aren't growing it, we're cutting it, and I vacillated between the two pretty often before I decided to run hard and fast after the mermaid locks of my dreams.

I recently switched to a more natural approach with my hair, and I've been getting lots of questions about it from my friends.  So, here are the basics of how I take care of my hair.

I wash with baking soda.  It's formally called the "no 'poo" approach, but that just makes me think of constipation and I steer clear of using it. I'll put the equivalent of about 3 teaspoons of baking soda in a repurposed travel sized lotion, fill the rest up with warm water, and give it a couple shakes to mix it up.  In the shower, I'll squirt it liberally along my hairline, making sure I get my temples and my bangs, since that's where I get the oiliest.  In lieu of conditioner, I'll use a solution of diluted apple cider vinegar in an old conditioner bottle - 2 parts water to 1 part ACV.

Since that probably sounds really weird for those who haven't heard of this method, here's the science behind it - conventional shampoos contain sulfates, which lather up to strip your hair of oil.  In theory that sounds good, but your hair actually needs the scalp's naturally occurring oil to remain healthy and not get frizzy and dried up.  When you wash your hair with a conventional shampoo every day, it strips all the oil from your scalp, which causes your scalp to produce more oil to make up for what it's loosing - making your hair get oilier faster, and shampooing every day to become a necessity.

Pantene really put one over on us, huh?

The baking soda solution only dissolves the excess oil on your scalp, so that it retains enough to be healthy without looking oily.  The baking soda/ACV method actually lets you wash your hair less often because your scalp isn't trying to produce tons of oil.  I wash my hair about twice a week and only need dry shampoo every once in a while.

I'll explain the ACV too, since its bound to raise some eyebrows; apple cider vinegar naturally balances the pH of your hair, detangling it like a conditioner would do, but with the added bonus of giving it body.  While your hair is wet, there's the smell to contend with, but it goes away completely once your hair is dry.

Truth be told, I cheat the system a little.  About every other week, I'll spread coconut oil all over my hair as a deep conditioner and sleep with it in.  When I wash my hair the next morning, I'll use a conventional, sulfate-free shampoo to make sure I get all of the oil out.  I love Organix Coconut shampoo for this, which you can find here.  It's also a great shampoo to switch to if you aren't sure you want to completely go no 'poo.  Sometimes when I know I'll be going to class with wet hair (I am staunchly against blow dryers for anything but my bangs), I'll use Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle for conditioner rather than the ACV solution, since not using any kind of conditioner on my hair isn't really an option. You know those electricity balls you can put your hands on to make your hair stand up?  If I skip conditioner, my hair does that on it's own.

Other than that, it's pretty basic! Like I said, I don't use a hair dryer except on my bangs, and I try not to cake on the product.  I take a B-complex vitamin that contains biotin and make sure that I drink enough water.  I also trim it myself - not a whole lot, but every couple weeks I'll check and snip off the dead ends so that it's healthy but I don't lose any length.
My hair is healthier than it has been in a long time, and it's growing pretty fast! Mermaid hair is within reach, friends.

around the world braid

I have shared about my issues with growing my bangs out and how I'm dealing with it.  At work especially, having my long bangs in my face is really irritating, and I get bored just bobby pinning them back.
The other day I was messing with my hair before work, trying to find a way to put it up that I liked and kept my hair out of my way.  As usual when I start messing with my hair, braiding was one of the first things I tried. This is what I ended up with, and I've worn my hair like this about a dozen times since. It's like a half milkmaid braid - I like it better because it's not all up; there's still a bit around your shoulders.

Start by deep side parting your hair, almost all the way to your ear.  If you care about whether the part is straight, you'll probably want to use a comb, because it's hard to do with just your fingers.  Once you have it parted, start french braiding across your forehead.

Instead of stopping at your ear, keep the french braid going around your head.  Do it pretty tightly to keep it from falling apart - after the braiding is done, you can always go back and rough it up.  I prefer my hairstyles messy, so I always go back and loosen the braids up.  Grab small-ish pieces of hair to add to your braid so that it doesn't get too lumpy around the top.

Eventually you'll want to switch the side of your head you're braiding from to bring the braid around the nape of your neck. Once you get back around, there's always an annoying strand just left hanging there.  I grab it, twist it under the braid  and finish it off by regular braiding the rest of my hair.

(forgive my derpy face here)

This style is great for second or third day hair, or any time you just want it all out of your way.  Plus, it only takes about 5 minutes!

braidy lady

My bangs are in that awkward too-long-to-leave-alone, too-short-to-go-in-a-ponytail stage.  Braids have been my friend for a while now because they hold my bangs back with minimal effort.  Leaving my hair down with the bang braids is pretty casual, so for my friend Chelsea's rehearsal dinner, I messed around with it until I had a pretty, messy, twisty fishtail going on that looked really good with my bangs braided back.
Here's how:

1. Gather your hair into a side ponytail and secure with an elastic.  Make a hole by dividing your hair into two parts between where it is secured with the elastic and your head, take the rest of your ponytail, and stuff it all the way through so that there's a twist at the top of the ponytail.

2. Fishtail the remaining hair in your ponytail.  I've tried to explain fishtailing as well as I can here.  The only difference is we aren't doing a fishtail french, so just divide your hair in two sections, take a piece from the back of one section and add it to the other, and then do the same on the other side all the way down.

Once you get the hang of it, it's super simple!

3. Add some volume by taking your hands and pushing your hair up at the roots.  Add some dry shampoo for extra grit, depending on how messy you want the end result to be.

4. Take one side of your bangs, braid, tuck the ends into your hair and pin. Do the same on the other side, and you're done!

I've worn this style tons of times because its easy and can be dressy or casual.  It's also great when your hair is dirty!

cracking the pretty code: good hair when you wake up with no heat

You know those girls who always look good?

I'm not one of them, but I do my best.

They always have gorgeous wavy hair that looks healthy and shiny.

This is how I've been copying the waves, and doing it without heat for the healthy part:

I wrap my hair up in a bun (twisting it out, then down to my head) and bobby pin it in place.  I do two buns for bigger, messier waves, four for smaller. Sleep on it, and wake up with pretty girl hair.

The code isn't cracked yet, but I'm chipping away.

Side Braid for Layered Ladies

Sometimes I feel like my hair is way to short for some styles. That's saying something, since my hair really isn't short at all. But there are some things it's just not long enough to do. 

Like the boho side braid.

Until now.

Honestly, you may have already thought of this. It really isn't innovative at all.

Basically all I did was pull my hair back in a low ponytail, braid it, secure the braid, and then rough it up.  The top elastic keeps your layers from falling out so that you get a messy look without your hair going nuts and all falling out of the braid.

I'm a fan! It's super easy and a little more interesting than a plain ponytail.

Milkmaid Braid Tutorial

Have you washed your hair in the past 3 days?

No? Me neither.

So I did this to my hair.

Cute, right? And it hides all your greasies.

Here's how you do it:

Part your hair down the middle like you're putting it in pigtails. French braid one side straight down the side of your head, not towards the back like you would if you were just gonna rock the pigtails.

Loosen the braid up a little. You're gonna be weaving the end of one braid into the top of another, so make sure it isn't flush to your head and there's a little wiggle room.

Now take the end of one braid, wrap it around the base of your head, and tuck the tail into the french braided part at the top of the braid on the other side.

See how it's woven in there? Just take the end and tuck it into the french braided portion of the opposite braid. If you have super long hair, bring the braid around your forehead and tuck the end of the braid back into the top of the same one (making a loop all around your head).

Bobby pin it in place (Use LOTS) and bobby pin the braid around the back. 

Do the same on the other side and you're done!

I love this look, it's super cute with a sundress!