Author Archives: Maicurls

About Maicurls

I got inspired write a blog due to my passion about my Natural Hair. It took me a while to find my way with my Hair...but I wouldn't change a thing now! I basically got to know my Hair through the help I found online (YouTube, Forums, Blogs etc) and want to "give back" by sharing what I have learnt over the years. My blog mainly consists of information about Natural Hair Care, Do It Yourself recipes and and tips I've learnt from all of you. I also share Skin Care and Health (Exercise) tips.

Hair Styles Written Up

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Alright guys so I just wanted to give you a very quick summary of all the Hair Styles Write-Ups I have done so far (04.09.2013)

I have basically written up:

Bantu Knots (this was done back in 2011 so I need to revisit this style and modify it)
Buns (I wrote up one of the 4 methods I use – I need to write the remaining 3)
Elongated Ponytail (Inspired by a YouTube Vlogger)
Twists (I basically explained my process of how I did my first “mini twists” but I will be adding how I do my “normal” twists which are medium sized as well as my overnight chunky twists).
Wash-n-Go

Click here to go to my Hair Styles Overview page. There are a few missing because I want to have images to demonstrate. It is easier to be able to see what I am trying to explain along with writing it. So as soon as I do the styles I will be loading up pictures and making write-ups.

I really do hope you guys find this interesting!

Thanks

: Maicurls

Hair Care Written up

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Alright guys so I just wanted to give you a very quick summary of all the Hair Care Routine write-ups I have done so far (04.09.2013)

I have basically written up ALL of my Hair care routines. I not only show the ingredients I use to create my DIY products but I also provide the quantities I use, mixing instructions and application process. In some of them I have image demonstrations because I used snapshots from the Videos I already have. As and when I make videos I will be adding image demonstrations of the application or mixing process.

The Hair Care Routine Write-ups I have are:

You can click on each of the links above to go directly to each products explanation. Click here for an overview of my Hair Care Routines. I really do hope you guys find this interesting!

Thanks

Maicurls

Slowly but surly getting there – Hair, Skin and Health Blog update

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Hi guys!

So as the title suggests I am slowly getting through the initial things I wanted to write up! The thing is, as I start writing I keep on thinking of new things to write! Anyways so yes I have written up a good part of my Hair and Skin care sections. There are still things missing though and I will star getting though them. The health section is also pretty much done but I think I will be adding in a few things like my favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes. I will probably also put up my exercise plan showing the exercise videos I use from Fitness Blender and how my Elliptical Machine workout program.

In my next post I will do quick summary of which Hair and Skin Care explanations I have written until now (04.09.2013). This will make it easier for you to know what is actually done so far. As I write more I will make new posts highlighting them.

Hopefully the blog will start picking up and I will get to interact with a few of you!

Thanks

Maicurls

My first Small Twists

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So I decided that I wanted to make my first attempt at (drum roll please) SMALL TWISTS ( I would like to call them Mini-Twists). Since my Natural Journey (mid 2009) till now I have NEVER attempted to do mini twists. I do normal sized twists (medium) and chunky twists but the thing is I never properly part my hair. I do not bother being particular about the parting so they are not aliened or neat. I normally just cover my hair with a scarf when I have them in twists (to hide the messiness) and then when I am ready to take them out I unravel the twists and rock a twist-out.

So yes I decided to do small (mini) twists and Oh My God it took forever! My little behind went numb half the time because of all of the sitting!

So I have photos of the finished look but not the process. It really was not a planned style but the basic concept of my twists are the same as everyone else’s. I will have more details into my experience etc. under the Mai Hair Styles Tab – subheading Twists. You can go directly to the page here.

I am not sure if I will rock a twist-out after this but if it does not look too bad when I take them down I will leave them as twist outs before detangling.

Thanks

Maicurls

Hair Care Routines Posted!

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I have written down my Hair Care Routines under (surprise surprise) Mai Hair Routines. At the start of the year I decided to try and use at least 80% -90% natural products in my hair care. I have slowly substituted certain items and wanted to try them for at least a few months to see if I like them or not so I have updated it! I LIKE!

This is just a basic summary of my routines. I will start breaking down my methods in ‘series’ so that you see each of my processes step by step. For my blog I will do write-ups along with pictures, explaining my processes. I will also provide links to the videos in case there ends up being too much writing…I will keep you posted as and when I load up videos.

Thanks!

Maicurls

My Plans

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So last night while all my creative juices were flowing I started to brainstorm on how exactly I would carry out this Blog. The last thing I want to do is bore you guys and since I am the sort of person who likes to keep things organized (as much as possible), I figured it would make sense if my Blog and YouTube Channel sort of correspond with one another. Not everyone likes reading through loads of information and some people prefer to read so if I keep both sources similar no one group misses out on anything. So here are my initial plans.

For the Hair Care Section:

I will breakdown my routines which starts with my wash days. On wash days I also incorporate a Deep Conditioner (DC) Treatment. I have 3 different DIY ones that and 1 store bought DC I use for different reasons (I will explain them in my routines section later). I also do my Apple Cider Cleanse on wash days. I will show you how I moisturize my hair and then each week or every two weeks I plan on doing a different Hair Style Videos/Blog write-ups. Following those will be Videos/Blog write-ups on my ‘mid-week styles’ which consists of Up-Do’s, if I am not trying to stretch out a particular look. I would love to get suggestions or even tips from you, so if there are any requests on styles I have not tried before I will look it up and try it out. This will give me a chance to learn something new as well!

I have to reiterate that I am not a professional Hair Stylist. I basically teach myself by watching and learning from others so I will have to ask you to please bear with me at times. Sometimes I might actually have Videos/Blog write-ups on things I tried that either did not work with my hair or perhaps I did not like. Now just because it did not work for me or I did not like a particular look does not mean it is “bad”. It just means it did not work for me…it might work for you!

For the Skin Care Section

I am going to start off with my skin care routines, DIY treatments, skin care tips etc. I will try and leave tips for all kinds of skin care (dry, oily, sensitive etc) but would also ‘focus’ on my type of skin (because I know that the best). If you guys are interested to see some videos about that I would be happy to do that as well.

For the Health Section

I basically will do the same as for the Skin Care; put up some tips, programs I follow etc. I am NOT a fitness expert and therefore do not want to risk someone following my own personal suggestions and getting hurt. So I will show you the direct links/sites/information from the fitness Gurus and leave the rest up to you to make up your own minds about if you want to follow them or their programs. I will also talk about Food!

So, that is my basic plan! Things might change up a little but I will always keep you posted!

Thanks

Maicurls

My Hair Journey

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From Relaxed to Natural Curly Hair

I figured I would put up some information about my Hair Journey from Relaxed to Natural Curly. Hold onto your seats people… it will be a long one! First, once again I am not try to bash Relaxers/ Hair Dyes or anyone who uses them. As I said in my first post, there are ladies who are able to take care of their Relaxed and/or Dyed hair. It just did not happen with me.

I should start at the beginning. As as child, my parents would style my hair in a lovely Afro (yes even my father would…he loved doing it!). I had my hair in its ‘natural’ state up until I was about 14.

That’s when I started to beg my mother to Relax my hair. I had several reasons as to why I thought I wanted it done 1. I thought if I had it ‘straight’ it would be easier for me to manage by myself because by then I was of course doing my own hair and I was having hard time with it. 2. All of my friends had straight hair. They seemed to jump out the pool/ shower/ wake up etc with hair that look like they left the Hair Dresser and I wanted that too. 3. I just did not know how to take care of my hair. After begging for what seemed like forever, my mum gave in (with A LOT of dread). My younger sister also followed into the Relaxer Journey eventually. And so began my Relaxed Hair Journey.

2004

After I got my hair Relaxed it still did not do/look the way I wanted/expected. I think I went into that Journey with this misconception that the Relaxer would be magic and I would have flowy straight healthy hair and all I needed was the Relaxer…little did I know that if I wanted HEALTHY hair I would actually have to do something to make & keep it healthy. My hair just got thin and brittle. It also seemed to look ‘lifeless’ so I would scrunch it with products to try and give it ‘body’

2005

Following my leap into Relaxed hair came Hair Dyes. I would Relax my hair and then after a few weeks Dye my hair. My mum would Relax my new growth and then I would re-dye my new growth and on and on went the cycle. I went through all sorts of colors ranging from light brown to dark but because I was using chemical on top of chemical my hair would sometimes end up…I do not know… an orangey/coppery/brown?

2008

Due to my overuse of chemicals and lack of proper care/ pampering/ moisture/ protection etc. My ends would eventually break off. Sometimes just the very ends and other times more. So I would have different lengths of hair throughout…some people would think I ‘cut’ my hair when it fact they were just breaking off. Even with the breakage I continued to get my hair Relaxed and would Re-dye it back dark when I got sick of the odd orangey/coppery/brown color. I sometimes would also blow-dry my hair and I had this really bad “flat iron” that did not have a setting option (it just went to piping hot). Overall, I just had damaged dry, brittle, weak, fine and at times strangely colored hair.

2009-2010

I went through this cycle until 2009. By then, I was tired of the breakage and the damaged unhealthy looking hair. I did not wake up one morning and think ‘Hey, I want to have my Natural Curls’. My leap into my Natural Hair Journey was not quite as “Romantic”. I just got tired of Relaxing my hair. So by the middle of 2009 I just stopped.

And then began the “transition phase”. I did not want to ‘part’ with the hair I had so I decided to trim my Relaxed ends as my new growth would grow out. So it was one snip at a time. Eventually by the middle of 2010 I had cut off all the relaxed ends. But I was still using Hair Dyes every time I got ‘bored’ and I was still not taking proper care of my hair in terms of doing protective styles, deep treatments, moisturizing and so on.

2009 – 2010 transitioning

2010 – got my natural curls back

2011

It was not until 2011 that I found out that my hair actually needed things like that deep conditioners, moisture, protection etc! This is where the ‘experimental’ side of me came out. I researched, read, watched videos, asked questions etc. This is also where my Trial and Error phase started. I would experiment with products and styles to see what my hair liked/did not like. 2011 was also the year where I decided I did not want to Dye my hair anymore. My hair was loving my new found passion of taking care of it and was rewarding me.

2012

By 2012 I pretty much had my routine down. Do not get me wrong I still looked out for new looks and methods but as I mentioned in my first post, I did not try to fix something that was not broken!

2013

I know there are things I could do a little better such as more protective styles (I love wearing my hair out), but I have to say my hair has never been this long or healthy EVER! And I am currently on a mission of incorporating as much natural products into my routines…I am basically making my own products! I like knowing what is in the products I use and since I am an experiment/mixing junkie I am loving this new natural journey!

It has been quite a Journey and I did have a few pit falls on the way. But I managed to get through them and not cave! I by no means have “perfect” hair and I am not a professional. I just know MY hair and I LOVE it!

I feel that this Journey is not over… I am always learning new things and want to continue to learn new things about my hair.

Thanks

Maicurls

My First Post Ever

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Hello and Welcome!

This is my very first post on my very first Blog!

It is probably best to start at the beginning…the reason why I decided to do this. While I was trying to find routines, methods and styles to help me take the best care of my Natural Curly Hair I found the Internet so helpful!

Before that, I did not realize that YouTube, Online Forums, Articles etc were so full of useful information about Natural Curly Hair (ignorant I know). I can not tell you what lead me to finding out… I think I random stumbled on a Hair Forum which then lead me to YouTube and so on. All I can say is THANK YOU to all the ladies who put up information, made videos, answered questions etc you have no idea how grateful I am!

Basically I am doing this to ‘give back’ in hopes that someone else will find some of my information and tips helpful on your their Journey. I also just started putting Videos on my Maicurls YouTube channel. I am very shy on camera and talk super fast (I Hope I will get better)!

So after loads of research as well as Trail and Error I started to integrate routines, methods and styles that worked for me. Now, when I say Trial and Error I really do mean A LOT of Trial and ERROR. I sometimes got to a point where I wanted to give up. At one point I contemplated getting my hair ‘texturized’… I think that is what it’s called. I actually went to different Hair Dressers to see if they would be able to do it. But when I got home and properly thought about it, I realized that it would mean that I would be back in the same place I was before when I use to relax my hair. The thought of the maintenance alone put me off. My family also told me that after all the time I went through transitioning from Relaxed to Natural Hair, I might regret it. So I did not and could not be happier!

I am not trying to bash relaxers or texturizers or any other method I just realize that those methods are not for me. If my Relaxed hair had been long, flowy, thick and healthy this might have been a Blog about maintaining my relaxed hair.. you never know. But that was simply not the case for me. I know there are ladies who have healthy relaxed hair…it just wasn’t the case for me. You can read about my Hair Journey in ‘My Hair Journey from Relaxed to Natural Curly Hair’.

Moving on…so during my Trial and Error phase I sometimes found it hard to stop myself from wanting to try EVERYTHING out there and believe me there is A LOT! What I came to realize is that when I reach a goal/look/result I like I need to stop. “If it isn’t broken don’t fix it” right? Yes, that was hard for me to do and still is! And by that I do not mean don’t try different styles or routines or methods but if you have good results using one method then maybe just be happy with that and move on to achieving something else.

I also became a ‘product-junky’ while I was trying to find out what works for me. I mean I tried every conditioner, leave-in conditioner, gel, cream… you name it I tried it. I am currently on a path of looking at putting natural products in my hair. I also am trying to live much healthier so that I nourish the inside as well as the outside.

I have finally figured out what my hair likes and what my hair does not like. I also basically know how my hair will react to certain things and most importantly (for me) is to listening to my hair! I now understand what my hair is trying to say and yes my hair can be demanding and expects me to listen otherwise I am the one that suffers because my hair likes to do what it wants.

Ok, this is a long winded introduction. So I shall end it here and say thank you for visiting and reading my post. I will be updating and writing new posts frequently (I promise to try my best). So please leave me comments, feedback, questions, suggestions etc.

Thanks!

Maicurls