Protective Style Challenge: Update Pt. 2

So last week I showed my progress in the challenge as we enter into the second month of the challenge, right? Well now I'm showing how three of the other ladies are doing. Landa, Kelli, and Dap :-)

This goes to show that everyone does protective styling different and I love the variety these ladies have shown. It's encouraged me to change it up pretty soon :-)

First up: My big sis Kelli. She recently did a 2nd big chop (which I'm uber jealous of btw lol)and her hair has grown so fast in the following months since. She has been doing two strand twists on her shorter do and they are so plump and healthy <3

Kelli was unsure about the challenge at first but she's stated to me that she's seen growth already since starting the challenge and that it's making a believer out of her.

Next up: Landa! Landa was already in the midst of a protective style challenge which would have ended this month but when she saw my challenge, she decided to continue on. She was also in the midst of moving from one state to another so not having to worry about her hair was even more of an incentive to join the BGBH PSChallenge. She's gone between a sew-in and wigs and she rocks them beautifully!


















Roundin' up the crew is Dap!! Dap has been very versatile with this challenge; she started off with kinky twists, then to a hair piece, and now she's got a full sew-in. I'm seriously tempted to steal her hairpiece because it's so natural looking :-)

As I've said on my previous update, it's not too late to join the challenge, we'll be going on thru January 1st and possibly longer. We've had two more ladies join the challenge this week already! Join us on twitter under the hashtag #PSChallenge and feel free to mention me @bigGirlbigHair. Read the original post from September to see the rules, which basically states you can wear your hair out two times a week but the rest of the week it needs to be protected, especially the ends.

Also please check out fellow participant's VetNatural's blog and see her progress throughout the challenge. She is awesome: vetsnaturalhairblog.blogspot.com

LASTLY: My hair twin J has asked that I post length pics of my hair hair before and I was going to but I've decided to wait until the end of the challenge so you can really see the growth. Sorry J! Love you still though lol

Protective Style Challenge: Update!!

Alright ladies, we are close to the 1mth mark of the BGBH 3mth PSChallenge! It has been great seeing the support for one another. I really encourage you to participate thru twitter via the #PSChallenge hashtag. One of the participants had a rough day and it was so great to hear how one of the other ladies helped her get thru it. When you are so use to manipulating your hair, it can really be nerve racking and almost uncomfortable not being able to see it and really play with it like you're use to. However that's the purpose of this challenge; by lessening your manipulation and hand-in-hair contact, it enables your hair to stay clean and not break off as much. Plus with the winter temps quickly approaching, you're going to want to keep your ends covered.

As I'm typing this, I'm sitting under a bonnet dryer on low heat to dry my freshly washed kinky twists. I've had them in right at a month as of today and I have really loved it. I've been making sure to do styles that aren't pulling the twists, especially at the edges and always making sure they aren't getting knotted up or loc'ing at the roots. My hair is very curly and coily and easily locs up, especially all around the edges of my hair so I've been doing mostly styles where my hair is pinned up and back, instead of in tight pony tails. I wore a ponytail for the first time this week and used the leg of a pantyhose so it's not as damaging to the hair while rubbing against it.

Here are pictures of a ponytail with a pompadour, side pin-up, and pin-up bun:




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They are are in really great shape, I've been making sure anytime I'm in the house, they are covered with my satin bonnet. The only products I use are water to mist them and then some olive oil mousse to enhance their natural curl. For my edges, I use a little aloe vera gel as it is non-drying (for ME). My plan is to keep them in until I get back from the Bahamas in December from my birthday weekend getaway. If they are still looking good, then I'm gonna try to keep them in until the challenge is over January 1st, otherwise I'll take them out and get my hair twisted or braided up with the ends tucked away :-)

By this time next week I will have an update with pics of the other participants and their protective styles!

PS It's not too late to join! Just drop a comment or hit me up on twitter @bigGirlbigHair and use #PSChallenge to interact with everyone :-)

Protective Style Challenge!!

It's been A WHILE since I've blogged or made hair accessories. I won't go into details but I'm feeling much better and ready to get back to spreading the natural hair love. The last few months I've had a few of my close friends tell me I've inspired them to go natural and they miss reading my blog. I know how hard the transition and journey can be so here I am, I'm back!

I've decided to do a protective style challenge. Here are the details:

Who: Anyone natural :-)

When: Officially starts Oct 1, 2011 - Jan 1, 2011

What: Protective styles (twists, wig, sew-in, braids) either your own hair or added synthetic hair. You are allowed two days out the week to wear the hair loose.

AND

I would encourage to do a length check both at the beginning of the challenge and at the end.

Extra: There will be two prizes given out. One will be the most creative style(s) during the challenge and one prize for the most retention so I would highly recommend you to document your progress via pictures :-)

Prizes are sponsored by the beautifully talented Daphne of IMadeYouLookSC and I am the other sponsor. My store, Arym's Creations is currently empty, as I'm working on new accessories. We both do custom orders and here are some pictures of our work:

Aryms Creations

















IMadeYouLookSC














If you're interested in joining me in this challenge please either leave your email address in the comment section or (if you prefer) send me a direct email to bigGirlbigHair@gmail.com with Protective Style Challenge in the subject line and I will send out an email once the challenge officially starts! I hope I'm not alone in this :-)

Midlands Natural Hair Meetup

Daphne (@ThatgirlDapSC) and I decided about a month ago to host a natural hair meetup for the ladies of Columbia, SC. We went into this having no idea what kind of response we may get but we were wholly committed to it nonetheless. I began reaching out to companies for sponsorships. Thanks to twitter I have a really good relationship with some amazingly talented ladies who are creators/ceo's of their product lines who gladly agreed to sponsor our event.

WeRockRoots, Wonder Curl, Created by Nature, Mei Fashion and GloryRest. Additionally, Daphne and I donated pieces from our accessory lines; IMadeYouLookSC and Arym's Creations < Currently under maintenance!

We had about 19 ladies RSVP via facebook that they would attend and amazingly, 16 showed up! It was a great time of just talking natural hair, eating some great food (Thank you Red Bowl Asian Bistro! Shoutout to our awesome waiter Sam!!), and having a Q&A with my natural hair stylist, Nora

Onto the contest!
We came up with various giveaways for the ladies to win prizes from our sponsors:

Deshanda won our Wonder Curl prize of the Get Set Hair Jelly and Butter Than Love Whipped because she's been natural the longest. An amazing 10 years!:


Chelsea was our youngest member and won our Wonder Curl sample pack which consisted of Get Slick Hair Smoothie and Get Set Hair Jelly. She transitioned the longest. 8 months (sorry for the fuzziness):


Our MEI Fashion sponsored giveaway was a beautiful handcrafted bag. The question to answer was "What is the natural way to both color and condition the hair?" The answer was henna. Kionna was our winner:


The following winners shared with group what the following acronyms meant (in order their pictures are listed); PJ, PS, Pre-Poo, EVOO. These ladies won accessories from IMYLSC and Arym's Creations:

Crystal knew that PJ= Product Junkie



Chelsea (she KNEW! her natural hair trivia lol) knew that PS= Protective Styling



Kisha knew that Pre-Poo = Using an oil as a pre-treatment before shampooing the hair



Kryshinda knew that EVOO= Extra Virgin Olive Oil


We then did a "What's In Your Purse?" game. The ladies who had bobby pins and headband won prizes also from IMYLSC & Arym's Creations:

Johnessa had bobby pins on hers, Owww!:



Chelsea (once again, this girl KNOWS natural hair!) had headbands with her:


Mixed Chicks was gracious enough to send two 1 liter bottles of their deep conditioner. We gave one away by randomly selecting business cards from a pile.

Kisha was our business card winner:


For the second liter, a participant had to tell us one ingredient to avoid, one styling tool to avoid, and one treatment to avoid.

Kionna correctly named to stay away from mineral oil, hard bristle brushes, and Brazilian keratin treatments (sorry for the fuzziness):


Huge THANK YOU!! To all our sponsors. Every attendee was able to walk away with a great goodie bag full of products to further their natural hair journey:


Special thank you to our jr. host, CiCi! She took great pictures!

BGBH Feature: Daphne

I met Daphne on twitter early 2011. She is super sweet and supportive. It turns out that a position I applied for was at the same company so now we're coworkers. When I launched my online accessory store, she was one of my first customers and spreads the word for me about my store and continues to do so at our job. When she FINALLY (lol) launched her store, I wanted to do something to show that same support so I've decided to do a feature of her and her store on my blog :-D

How long have you been natural? Since Late 2009



What prompted you to go natural? I had decided to to go natural 3x over the last 3 yrs prior but really wasn't interested until I couldn't relax all of my hair due to scalp issues & I participated in a 2009 breast cancer walk & saw that most of these survivors had no choice but they are walking with pride with their afros!

What's your favorite/go-to style? Comb twist; love them, quick length check also I like to look at 1st pic of them & compare them to the current ones



What are your staple products? Unrefined SHEA BUTTER and Tea Tree & Herbal Essence Totally Twisted

Piece of advice for those transitioning to natural hair? My transition was quick I had a spikey hair cut so didn't take me long. Whether it's weaves or wigs, maintain your hair as if it was out, edges and all! Stick with a regimen! If you compromise your hair because it's hidden you will have a long road trying to recover!

Your accessories, you make these yourself? Yes! I, well correction, I scroll the aisles of different stores and if the items speak to me with inspiration & I can see someone wearing it I buy it and glue it to different hair attachments!

What inspires your pieces? Elegance, exotic images, a persons character!

Do you design custom pieces? Yes, I just finished some clips for an 8yr old princess and now I'm working on a wedding head piece due in August.

Where can people purchase items from you? www.etsy.com/shop/imadeyoulooksc



Piece of advice for those who are interested in the art of designing accessories? Have a plan, research sites to sell/buy from, make sure you are making a profit, wear your pieces, test them a full day know what do's & don't's that apply to wearing them. Critique yourself and let others do the same. Try to find pieces that no one else can wear but your buyer. Lastly, have fun! No such thing as bad art, all art is creative!

Where can your pieces be bought? www.etsy.com/shop/imadeyoulooksc

WINNER: Cuties, Curls, & Coils.

First off, thank you to all three beautiful contestants. You were all deserving of praises and prizes for proudly showcasing your natural hair!

The winner of the Taliah Waajid Herbal Comb Out and Style & Shine is.................................................................................

Princess Aaliyah!!!


I will be contacting the mom of Princess Aaliyah shortly for your mailing information. Once again thank you all who participated! And thank you to the creators of WeRockRoots for organizing the 31 day of Natural Hair CommUNITY Days!

**CLOSED** Poll: Cuties, Curls, & Coils

We have three contestants for the Cuties, Curls, & Coils Contest! Voting ends at 5:00am March 31st. To vote, simply select your choice on the poll to the right side of this blog post and then press "Vote"

I introduce to you:

Princess Aaliyah




















Prince Chance
















Princess MaTaia

Contest: Cuties, Curls, & Coils!!

I'm happy to be hosting a contest for the Natural Hair CommUNITY Days! Do you have a son or daughter with the natural hair and want to showcase them? Then this is the contest for you. Here are the details:

Who: All the natural hair children (6mths-12yrs)
What: Photo Contest
How: Submit your photos via EMAIL by Saturday (26th). I will will then post the pics on this blog on Sunday (27th) and give the public the chance to vote for the cutest cutie with curls, coils, naps, and fros!
When: Winner will be announced Thursday, March 31st.
Prize: The winning child will win one (1) Taliah Waajid Easy Herbal Comb Out AND one (1) Taliah Waajid Herbal Style & Shine.















**For the safety of your child, I will gladly blur out their faces if you prefer it that way**

Natural Hair CommUNITY Days Feature: Jenell

Of all the posts I've made on my blog thus far, this is without a doubt my favorite post. One of my fave persons, who I have come to call a friend, Robyn (@NaturallyRooted) came up with an idea for a month long celebration and highlight on the natural hair community; thus Natural Hair CommUNITY Days was created. It goes the entire month of March with blog posts, giveaways, contests, and deals almost everyday. So my contribution to the NH CommUNITY Days is a feature of my favorite or inspiration and Jenell is that person.



I met JenellyBean (lol) via twitter and began tweeting back and forth with her and over time we realized that we are hair twins. My hair is 3c and hers is 4b but our hair "acts" the same exact way and most things that work for one of us, works for the other. She has a great hair care forum and YT channel that I'll share with you later. Side Note: this is more of an inside thing between she and I but I HAD to post her puff pic as the main picture of this feature. She swore up and down that her hair wasn't long enough for a puff and then I told her about trying a pantyhose leg..VOILA! a puff =)

How long have you been natural: I've been natural for almost 1 year. 3/26/11 will be 1 year.



What prompted you to go natural: My cousin was interested in going natural and she shared this info with me. I thought she was crazy. But she shared some YouTube videos with me of beautiful women who big chopped and I was inspired by their natural hair, curl definition, and growth. After one week of watching over 100 YouTube videos, my mind was set--I was ready to Big Chop.

Fave product(s)/Least fave product(s): Anything made by Shea Moisture makes my hair happy. I also appreciate products made by Giovanni, Herbal Essence, Kera Care, Design Essentials, and Organix. Coconut oil is my favorite oil. Tropical Traditions makes an awesome batch.



Who are your natural hair inspirations: My hair inspiration from the YouTube community is Vanisha aka AfricanExport- her 4B Kinky Hair has grown long and healthy and she "Keeps it Real"!
Some honorable mentions would have to be Tracee Ellis Ross, Janelle Monaé, and Jill Scott.

What's the oddest request for a tutorial you've received (if any): I create tutorials on a whim so usually no one has to even ask for something. But I have subbies (subscribers) that wish to learn more about my personal life.

If you could choose any 7 twittermates/YT vixens to meet up with, who would it be? Why? (Think of it like a Who's Who of natural hair lol):Fortunately for me I've had an opportunity to meet some great TwitterMates and YT Vixens and have made great friends with them. But there are some I'd love to meet. YT- AfricanExport, MsVaughn and her sister MeechyMonroe, KimmayTube, and Naptural85 TWITTER - (Im sorry I don't remember twitter names I always remember first names) Nicole (you!) and Shannon (I think her twitter name is BluNatural)



Any parting words?Love your hair. Remember its a natural hair journey, not a race!

Check out my website KinkyCurlyCoilyMe From there you can find links to my YT channel where I have lots of information and styling options, you can join my FB fan page, join my Natural Hair Forum, and follow me on Twitter. MUAH!

Transitioning Feature: Adrienne

I love doing features on my blog!I know that with 2011 just starting, a lot of relaxed ladies are starting the transition to natural hair. Now some ladies can do the big chop and sport it proudly, whereas other prefer to transition into natural hair to give themselves more length for when they do finally cut off those last few end of relaxed hair.

So, I wanted to do a feature on a tranitioner to help others out there doing the same. Adrienne has an AMAZING blog (which she will share with you below) that I follow and when I read that she was transitioning, I just had to have her featured here on BGBH.

Here is her story:

How long have you been transitioning?
My last relaxer was November 29, 2009 So I've been transitioning for 1 year and 3 months now!



When do you plan to BC/cut off the last of relaxed ends?
Hmm... Now that's tricky, I'm super excited about my curly roots but I'm not sure how I'll look with short hair! I'm leaning towards possibly doing 2 mini chops versus a BC... But who knows, my original plan was to BC in May 2011... Anywho I'll be sure to keep you posted!

What prompted you to start the journey to go natural?
My girlfriend was natural at the time and I always thought she had beautiful hair! She convinced me to see what my natural texture was like so I stopped relaxing my hair for a few months. I loved the texture but I wasn't sure I could handle the maintenance. Then after I got my last relaxer in November 2009 I hated the results and I decided then that I would be a Natural Girl!



What's your favorite/go-to style?
Well I'm pretty new to the whole natural thing. I kept straightening my natural hair for months to make it blend with my relaxed hair. Also most people seem to think that just because you go natural you get special powers and know how to bang out these fly hairstyles! Lol I just learned how to braid tight enough to give myself braid-outs! Quite honestly that's all I do, it's simple and it always looks great! I'm hoping to try bantu knots soon! ;D

What are your staple products?
I've been using Hello Hydration (Herbal Essence) shampoo and conditioner and Suave coconut conditioner. I also like to throw in a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the DC mix. My favorite product thus far has been the Olive Oil Gel! I use it for my braid outs and the hold and shine is amazing! I usually apply it with the Shea Butter Curl Enhancing Smoothie or whatever creamy curl butter I have in the cabinet just to give it some extra curl!

What have been the toughest parts about the transition?
The hardest part has probably been learning what my hair likes. I spent my time when I first went natural watching a billion youtube videos a day looking at women who probably didn't even have the same texture as me. Finding products that work is very hard, time consuming and costly. Another tough part are these darn relaxed ends! I hate having them hang off my braidouts but I'm still too scared to cut my hair.

What are you favorite blogs/sites/social networks to read concerning natural hair?
The MopTop Maven Her site is amazing she is truly my hair inspiration!
Curly Nikki The product reviews on this site is on point! Plus there is a forum so its just a lot of ladies lots of opinions and lots of hair!
Twitter's #TeamNatural community is awesometastical!

Where can we find you online?
Check out my blogsite
Like the Lez & The City Facebook Page!
Follow me on twitter @LezCity



Last parting words?
I love being natural and it's the best decision I could have made! Its easier to maintain than relaxed hair and I don’t have to worry if I sweat too much or get stuck in the rain! My friends don't believe me when I say that my natural hair doesn’t tangle! I'm excited to see when I'll finally cut off the relaxed ends... if its not May 2011 it will definitely be in December 2011. Overall, The best thing is I can do it myself!

Etsy Shop Now Open!!

One of my goals coming into 2011 was to showcase my talents more. I began making hair clips and earrings and find it so relaxing and rewarding when I see the finished product. I was asked repeatedly if I was going to open up shop and sell them but I didn't want to until I built up my inventory more. Well the time has come! If you look over to the right, that is a small sample of my inventory.

bigGirlbigHair presents Arym's Creations. It will feature homemade and handmade fashion and hair accessories to include assorted hair clips and earrings. I will take custom orders. We can discuss what you are wanting before setting a price.

I will have an Arym's Preferred mailing list that will allow those subscribed to it to find out about sales and specials before it's announced publicly. Please send an email with your Name, Email address, and Birthday to bigGirlbigHair@gmail.com

Currently, if you use the code Twitter during checkout, you'll receive 15% off!