Hair Update!

Time for a hair update! I took my weave out yesterday (for now—something new might be making its debut in time for Fashion Week….lol) and I was in LOVE with my cut and how my hair was just swanging after my stylist Gabrielle Corney styled me. It’s funny because I wasn’t even paying attention to what she was doing—I had my laptop with me and was working on some stories and chatting up a storm with her when she was like “OK—done.” I looked up and was like “YASSSSSSSS!” lol

My hair had SO much body that I seriously whipped my hair back and forth (while standing pigeon-toed…lol) for a good 5 minutes after I saw it. I was pretty much the hype man for my own hair…lol.

Me with my TWA back in 2011 for a shoot with Nas that wound up in ESSENCE

So a bit of background. I haven’t had a relaxer since 2010—I “accidentally” big chopped and wore my hair in a TWA for a long time until I got bored and experimented with other styles. Last year I got an undercut and shaved the right side of my hair completely down to the gristle. I’m talking about I would have five o’clock shadow if I didn’t keep up with super regular shape-ups. That was fun for a bit and then I decided I wanted to grow it in so I did a series of side-parted weaves of which most recently this year was Echelon Deep Wavy to hide the side while it grew in. My biggest challenge during that grow-out time was that my hair had ZERO style on its own—it looked like I either needed to shave the growing in side down or well—look like Martin when he ran off to join that cult. It didn’t look cool worn curly/kinky and it didn’t look cool straight in that weird stage so that’s where the weaves came into play. Plus weaves are fun…lol. For me.

From last year until just yesterday with my “real hair”

Echelon Deep Wavy

And speaking of weaves—that Echelon Deep Wavy? LOVE! So the company sent me the hair back in February before I went to Trinidad and I wore it all through Carnival, Barbados, and back home in NYC for a little over two months. Then I took a break and got my hair cut into an asymmetrical bob (the shaved side finally grew in enough where I could get a cool cut) and then had it installed again at the end of June (by hairstylist Fashion Hendricks) and took it out yesterday. The hair can STILL be used again—it looks that amazing and it actually keeps getting better the longer I have it. It sheds minimally (hair’s gonna shed IMO, but the shedding was VERY minimal), never ever tangled on me (I also made sure to brush it with a paddle brush before bed and put my hair in two large twists before securing it with a satin scarf and then a satin bonnet on top though sometimes I would be lazy and just stuff the hair into the bonnet and still no tangles). It’s also low maintenance—I could simply wet it a little and brush it out some to get the natural wave pattern or I could enhance it with a curling wand or iron. I didn’t really like the way it looked when worn completely straight because it would get too straight (I prefer coarser hair textures when I do straight weaves). And in the HIGH humidity of Miami during Swim Week, my hair just kept looking better and better as it got bigger and bigger. This hair LOVES humidity. Plus I felt the more it swelled, the better it blended with my own hair which was great because I didn’t need to fight with the flat iron often while traveling.

I haven’t tried a ton of hair weave brands (that can get costly especially since I don’t know how to install weaves myself and I go to the salon regularly to maintain) but I do really love the quality of this hair.

Products I’ve Been Loving

I’m such a fan of hair products—even ones that I can’t even use on my hair…lol. The techniques used to get hair to go from one state to the next and all the tools and products used just fascinate me. And as someone who writes about beauty for a living, you can imagine that I come across a ton of stuff (some that I’ve been waiting to try once I took my extensions out). But some notable products include:

Motions Straight Finish Heat Styled System (c/o)

This line was created for ladies with natural hair like me who like the versatility of wearing hair straight. I actually have been wearing my hair more straight than anything so I’m always looking for products that help ease the heat styling process AND allows me to keep my hair straight longer. I have the type of hair that can revert and start to wimp out the SECOND any type of humidity shows up so I loved that I could get through at least a full week with very little reversion. It also helps speed up the heat styling process for me when I’m doing my hair at home. And of course my hair would bounce back to its natural state after BUT keep in mind that these type of products don’t extend you carte blanche to using heat as often as you want without altering your curl pattern. You still need to be careful with heat settings—sometimes realizing that you may need to adjust it for different sections of your hair especially if you have some areas with looser curls than others.

Moroccanoil Smooth Collection (c/o)

This line was created for multiple hair types to have smoother, frizz-free hair longer. It works on naturally straight hair, curly/kinky hair that is heat styled, and also on natural curls. There isn’t anything in it that will change even temporarily your curl pattern but it does help to fight humidity and frizz. I’ve used it for a little over a month and loved how the “leave out” area stays smoother longer when I’m wearing extensions. I used the line yesterday on my hair when I took the weave out so I’ll have a full review in a few weeks on how it works with my natural hair. But so far, I’m loving.

Remington T-Studio Pearl Ceramic Collection Curling Wand (c/o)

I’ve tried expensive curling wands and this $25 (or less if you catch a sale) one that you can find at Target outperforms them all. It’s super easy to create curls and waves with this iron—you pretty much just wrap sections of hair (the smaller the section the tighter the curl) around the wand, hold for a few sections and then release. I’ve had this for almost two years now and it’s still going strong.

My custom-made half-wig made of Indique Zen Straight Hair (c/o)

I had a friend of a friend make a half-wig for me using Indique Zen Straight Hair and it was the smartest thing ever…lol. I love my short hair (that I’m growing out) but I also love to play with length so the half-wig is perfect for just clipping in whenever I want to switch things up a bit.

And that’s my update! My ultimate goal (for now at least) is to grow my hair out—maybe ideally to bra strap length but who knows because I might see some other cool style and decide to cut it again. I have to say I’m definitely more style conscious than length conscious—I’d rather have a great style which helps cut back on prep time and just makes me look better even if it means losing inches. I absolutely love my hair and can’t wait to see how much more amazing it gets as it gets longer and I try out more styles :)