Haute Hair: Kelly Rowland

I love big hair so it's only natural when I saw a picture of Kelly Rowland's new big curly 'do I would fall head over heels. I have worn similar curl patterns but  unfortunatly all the curl patterns I have worn that were close ended up not working out, but now I am motivated to go back to the drawing boards........stay tuned :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We are almost one month down in 2012 and I am so excited what the next 11 months will bring. This year I am looking forward to bringing some new fresh ideas to Hair Addict. I have been playing around with processed textures and hair pieces (as shown in pic) that I know you will love when we finally get it perfect enough to introduce to you. I am also hoping to get back to making more videos and of course updating the blog more often. I hope 2012 has already started off with a bang for you and I hope you will be apart of all the exciting things we are expecting this new year to bring.

Are Weaves the New Relaxer for Naturals?

I was up late the other night on the computer, clicking from blog to blog, link to link. I somehow ended up on a blog asking the question "Are weaves the new relaxer for naturals?" Now I wish I would have saved the blog link so that I could go back and reference the author's comments but I think the question itself is still rather interesting. What do you think?

Me, personally I think the great thing about being natural is the ability to weave or wig it  up and wear your hair straight while allowing yourself that versatility without damaging your natural curl pattern. Myself I am currently wearing HairAddict's  Virgin Malaysian hair and I love being able to have straight locks for the next eight weeks but will be just as happy when I take it out and rock my natural curls for however long until I choose another texture to "weave it up". So with that said maybe straight weaves are the new relaxer for naturals without the commitment and with all the versatility we love. Best of both worlds if you ask me!

                                                 

Goodbye Summer

This year is blowing by, I can't believe it is almost the end of summer and before you know it we will be through fall and into the holiday season (maybe I'm pushing it) but honestly it seems to be flying by. I haven't updated the blog since the spring which means I never shared with you my summer  look and yes that is singular. I am the worst when it comes to my hair, I will rock an install until it is on life support and that is exactly what I did this entire summer. I acted as a test dummy for a hopeful new but familiar curly texture similar to the signature curl (R.I.P) I wore last year. It is so hard to find the perfect tight curl. (I have a feeling the challenge will follow me into the fall). But here it goes......

So what do you think?.....I actually loved the look but the behind the scenes with this hair was a fail. Hopefully I will have good regarding bring back a signature curly texture.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Quick Review Follow-up

Last time I checked in I posted about Shea Moisture products. Its been about two weeks since I started using the products and I am in love with most of the products. I am currently using this on my natural hair, but I think the shampoo should be a staple whether rocking your natural hair or your weave install. The shampoo is moisturizing and does a really good job of  cleansing without stripping the hair. I would specifically recommend for curly installs; with moisture being key to getting bouncy curls that "pop".
On the down side f the products, I didn't like the masques, they did nothing for me. I am not sure how well the masques work on your hair extensions, when it calls for deep conditioning. Overall I had a good experience with the products and it helps that I got them at a good deal!

Hello.....SheaMoisture!

Hey its been awhile but I'm back! Fortunately we have been really busy but unfortunately blogging has fell by the wayside. Anywho I wanted to share a new product I came across and the great deal I found on it at my local Walgreen's. As you all know (if you have read previous entries), under this weave I am a natural girl. Well I am taking a few months to let my hair rest, let my curls pop and my fro...well be a 'fro. With that said, I set out for some products to play with. I came across a product line called Shea Moisture and after much research of reading natural hair/curly hair blogs, watching videos etc, I decided to try it. Well luckily for me the entire line was on sale at Walgreen's buy 1 get 1 Free!
Well....I tried the shampoo tonight and I LOVED it!!! It is sulfate free, and pretty much chemical free. It's gentle and moisturizing. (I think this would be a great product for washing your wavy/curly installs as well).
Along with the shampoo I bought a few other items to try (I couldn't pass a B1G1 deal).  I am now under the dryer with the deep conditioning masque and will be trying a twist out with their hair milk and hair smoothie...so I shall report back. Hopefully you get a chance to try it, I think the shampoo will be a staple for my summer wavy/curly installs as well. But hurry, the sale is only until April 2nd.

12 Days of Christmas

Black Friday

Product Spotlight: Moroccan Argan Oil

I often get asked what  I use in my hair and/or asked advice on the do's and don'ts of what to use on your hair extensions. My advice is pretty standard no matter the texture, length, curl patterns etc. Generally I advise to stay away from oils, because of their tendency to weigh down the hair. But there are always exceptions to the rules. I was in Sally's one day buying Caruso Steam Rollers (another post for another day) and on the phone simultaneously with my friend, who was so excited about me being in Sally's and about this product she recently purchased that she wanted me to try....Moroccan Argan oil. Well I had recently read really good things about Moroccan oil on a few natural hair blogs and wanted to try it but hadn't ordered it yet, so it wasn't really a hard sell. Anywho I buy the oil, take it home and try it out.....um yeah....IN LOVE. Let me tell you, the oil feels a little thick when you put it in your hands, but when you rub your hands together it's really thins out and feels a little silky. When you put it on your hair, your hair immediately absorbs it. There is no oily residue, no greasy look, no stringy oily mess....good stuff right. Reading the back of the bottle that is exactly what it promises, it creates a natural looking sheen on your hair. Its so light that you can put a little on daily if you so desired. The best thing it is all natural, derived from Mother Nature herself, the oil is from the Argan Tree native to Morocco. The price isn't too bad....right around $10 but you get a good size bottle and a few drops go a long way. It also works really well on skin and has a mild, sweet, nutty smell. And I almost forgot to mention how soft my natural hair and my hair extensions are after using it....Loves it!  Try it out let me know what you think.

FIRST FRIDAY GIVE AWAY

Hey...Long time no type....well I have some exciting news. We are having a give away...its our FIRST and what better day than a FRIDAY and what better place than on FACEBOOK. Do you notice a theme here....well its really simple. All you have to do is is "Like" Hair Addict's page, then "Like" our Facebook Friday Status. That is all.

 Oh and what is the prize? A $50 gift voucher to use on your next purchase!
Winners will be announced the following Friday and will be selected by a random number generator.

We're on YouTube

I posted these videos a few weeks ago but wanted to post them here....enjoy and leave comments!

Don't Blink: 24...48...72 Hour Sale

We are having a sale and this is how it works...........
For the next 24 hours you can get Free Shipping and 10% off 14-16 inch Virgin Curly and $5 off 14-16 Deep Kinky Curly

On August 1st, only the Virgin Curly and the Deep Curly will be on sale but no free shipping......

On August 2nd, the Virgin Curly goes away and the Deep curly will be on sale....Got it! Good!

We're on YouTube

Color me Beautiful!

I posted a few months ago about getting a closure and color...well I never installed a closure but I did take the plunge  into a little color. I wanted to go as light as I could without changing my base color and without looking like a skunk with dark hair and blond highlights. So I went to visit my stylist and she hooked me up with a fabulous new install of Virgin Indian Rem Kinky Deep Curly It took me a day or so to really feel it, but now I think I am in love.

What's funny is, I had a similar color yearsssss ago but this time I like it a lot more, the highlights are thinner and aren't as orange as my previous highlights. Anywho while I was getting my hair highlighted I was all up in the products she was using so I could dish to those home hair scientists that may want to try to highlight their own hair. NOTE: Try at your OWN RISK!!!....I am not a stylist and do not advise you to do so but hey if you are a do-it-yourself type of girl.....here is what I spied.

My stylist used ION Color Brilliance powder lightener and ION Sensitive Scalp 20 volume developer which you can get at Sally's Beauty Supply. I don't know the ratio but she pretty much mixed it in the bowl, applied to sections of hair with a color brush, foiled and sat me under the dryer for a few minutes. AGAIN...NOTE...these are not exact directions so you may need to investigate a little further before trying at home.

But here are the final results.

Specs: HairAddictOnline.com 14-16 inch and 18-20 inch Virgin Indian Remy Kinky Deep Curly (flat ironed and curled) , layered

***Note: The Virgin Indian Remy Kinky Deep Curly is replacing the old Virgin Indian Deep Curly (post to come)

Did you get the Memo?

Transitioning with Weave

I decided a few years ago to transition my hair from relax to natural. I started by stretching my relaxers and then finally decided to stop relaxing altogether. However I never had the desire to do a big chop and/or rock a mini afro, and while that is a beautiful option for many it was never the option I wanted to take for myself. When I started wearing a weave back to back for a year, my hair really started to grow and get thicker and through using weaves as a style to protect my natural hair it has really thrived. My next install is schedule for next week and I will finally trim off the last bit (less than a half of inch) of relaxed tips. My hair is thicker, fuller and healthier than it was when I was relaxing and before I started wearing weaves.  Here are some tips to growing your hair and or transitioning to natural hair using a weave.

1) Keep a healthy scalp - regular washing
2) Keep your natural hair moisturized under your weave
3) Give your hair a break in between installs, at least a week or so
4) Keep trimming back relaxed ends
5) Choose styles that will minimize heat on your leave out or use closure or full weaves to transition
6) Make sure you stylist does not braid your hair too tight and be careful of the tension on your natural hair

7) HAVE FUN, try different styles, curl and wave patterns!

Me and my BFF in all our natural glory!

Blame it on the Alcohol......

It is amazing to me how so many products on the market claim to  miracle....wonder working hair transforming products but when you peel the layers, well actually dissect the ingredients of the product, you will often find that they are damaging your hair. The biggest misconception is that only cheap products have these tress devastating ingredients and that is simply not true.

I have received emails from customers asking for recommendations for products or stating that they have used XYZ (higher end) product and their curls seem to be dry. When asking them about the ingredients, or when I look up the products and its ingredients...its generally the same culprit.....ALCOHOL.


This group includes Lauryl alcohol, Cetyl alcohol, Myristyl alcohol, Stearyl alcohol, Cetearyl alcohol and Behenyl alcohol.


Alcohol in different forms are used in a number of hair products, but in certain forms the ingredient can be  extremely drying, stripping it of moisture and because of this, alcohol can lessen the lifespan of your hair extensions; leaving them dull and lifeless. 

To keep it simple, here are some tips on what to avoid when shopping for your curl popping products:

When shopping for mousse and gels and curl enhancing products, try to stay away from products that contain these certain types of alcohol: ethanol, SD alcohol, SD alcohol 40, Alcohol denat, Propanol, Propyl alcohol and Isopropyl alcohol.


So now that you know you can no longer blame it on the alcohol.

Hair Addict Quick Fix: The Leak

There is this joke with my friend that I overuse the word love, but I seriously for the most part since starting Hair Addict I have loved almost every install I have had. I admit there was a little reservation when I first installed the Signature Texture curly but after I learned how to tame it, it was all love. Well my newest style is no exception.....I am in love, not puppy love but in Color Purple "me and you will never part" love.

Surprisingly it has less to do with the hair texture or the style but with the functionality of it. It is the perfect marriage of having a full install but having 100% accessibility to my scalp. Now I don't want to give away too much information because I want you to wait until I do a little more testing, a little more research and well....until the release. But here are the pictures of me and my new: Quick Fix: My "less than 1 minute and 8 second install."

The texture is Malaysian Remy Relaxed Bodywave....the length was looooong.....it hit at my lower back which ended up being too long for me...so what did I do?

After about a month at the longer length I cut it.  I am in Texas and the heat has been blazing, we are talking about 100 degrees plus every day and with this hair, I felt like I was adding an extra 10 degrees, so I asked my stylist to take off a few inches and well....she went Edward Scissor hands on me and took off more than I wanted but fortunately I fell in love with the cut.

As much as I am in love with it I am going to take it "off" and try another texture "on" and will be reporting real soon with more details!

Final review: Tancho Stick

I did a post on the Tancho stick a loooong time ago, back in November (this review is so overdue). Anywho I finally got some in my hand thanks to my friend who ordered an extra stick for little ole me:). I have been using it for about a month now and I have to say I am a little undecided how I feel about it. So I am going to give you the pros and cons and you can decide if you want to try it.

Pros:
-   I like the fact that the product is not greasy and does a good job of laying down my edges when edges are straight.
 - I like the packaging because I rub the stick directly on my edges so its really easy and non-messy.
-  It also lasts all day, after the hair has been brushed and tied down and
-  It isn't hard and the next day so you can add more if needed it without it being flaky or showing buildup.

Cons:

 - The SCENT....the lavender scent it really strong. It kind of smells like Blue Magic hair grease in a very overpowering scent kind of way.
-  The stick in my opinion does not work on my edges if my edges are not straight first. It does nothing f- or my kinks.
-  It can be a little waxy so you have to wash really good to wash it completely out of your hair.

Clarification Please.....

Yes that is what I was asking when I first learned about clarifying shampoo. Where had I been? All these years of washing my hair, I had never heard of clarifying shampoo. Actually all these years of washing my hair, I still subscribed to the notion that there were two types of products, those for "us" and those for "them" and if it wasn't in "our" section I wasn't using it. Well fast forward to a few years ago, searching the Internet for hair regimens to transition from relaxers, I learned about the importance of using clarifying shampoo to remove buildup from shampoos (how ironic right), conditioners and daily styling products. Imagine having a clean slate; that is what clarifying does for your hair. It allows your hair to be completely clean which in turns allow your conditioners to penetrate the hair shaft better and gives your hair a lightness and softness due to not being weighed down by product build-up.  With that being said, the same goes for your hair extensions. Many times, especially when you first receive the hair, the best thing you can do is clarify. This will ensure that the hair is clean of any residue thus giving you a clean slate to work with (it is always recommended you follow up with a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner to restore moisture). 
There are many clarifying shampoos on the market but as you know if you keep up with the blog, I am all about brands that are easy on the pocket but are effective......hence....my pick for a clarifying shampoo.

SUAVE DAILY CLARIFYING SHAMPOO - affordable, gentle, and easily accessible. You can find it at your local WalMart or Target.

* I don't recommend you clarify every time you wash your hair extensions, if you decide to do so, be sure to dilute with water to ensure you don't prematurely dry out your hair, and always follow up with a good conditioner.