Tag Archives: two strand twists

Valentine’s Day Date – Protective Hair Style

Hello Maicurlies,

So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day I decided to so a styling video for a “Date Look”. (I think I might potentially do a second styling option – depending on if I will have time to record and edit in time before V-day).

I am keeping it simple (as always) and quick. The style looks quite “chic” a little edgy and works as a protective style as well so overall I like it! I also kept my product use simple too (once again as always).

So without further-ado let’s go!

Products/Tools Used:

Wide Tooth Comb
Soft Bristle Brush
Bobby Pins
Hair Bubbles
Hair Elastics
Dye Brush (pointy part to section my hair)
DIY Spray Leave-In Conditioner
Argan Oil
Cantu Moisturizing Twist & Lock Gel

It is easier to watch a demonstration rather than read how I did the style:

Tip: for those with shorter hair, you can use braiding hair to do this style by adding it to the middle and bottom section, and twisting your hair together with it. I would recommend either doing a loose flat twist with the pompadour section go backwards or just making three sections, add braiding hair to all three and then make two – two strand twists within each sections. (You will need to watch the video so that this is clearer).

Tip: In case you don’t want to redo the style in the morning my suggestion is to take down the bobby pins (it is never a comfortable night with them in and not necessarily a good idea). Use a scarf to cover your hair, paying attention to your edges and side; for a smooth look in the morning and then just re-pin the twists down. You might need to “touch up” your edges with a soft bristle brush but other than that, it should be fine!

So here is my “final look”. Like I said, if I can I will do another styling option too and hopefully have it up before the 14th!

Whether you have a Valentine or not, are celebrating or not, I hope you manage to have a lovely day Maicurlies!

Thanks

Maicurls

17 hours, wine, excitement & nerves (Travel Log 1- 6 Flight to the USA)

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Before I begin to share everything I saw, ate, drank, experienced and felt in 4 States during my first trip to the United States (over the next 5 posts) I shall start at the beginning.

21st November 2016 12:00 am – woke up after maybe 3 hours of sleep thanks to excitement, nerves and my need to: check my packing list – recheck my packing list, pack – repack, check my passport & ESTA papers – recheck my passport & ESTA papers. So, needless to say I woke up tired and excited with a touch of nervousness, knowing I had 17 hours of travel ahead of me (15.5 hours total flight time with a 1 hour layover at one stop)!

Lack of sleep washed away after my shower, I proceeded to get dressed and ready. I decided on keeping it simple (as I always do) making sure I wouldn’t freeze on the plane (as I always do) by wearing a sweater, jeans, flat boots, a knitted cardigan & donning my less than glamorous twists. I knew I wasn’t about to get off the plane after 17 hours in any kind of normal looking “out” (twist-out, braid-out, bantu knot-out)…think messy clown and that would have been me especially without my satin scarf, so twists it was.

2:00 am – Check-in done, bags checked, hug and kiss to my dad and off I set for my big adventure. Security check dusted without any issues I headed straight to the lounge; thanks to my fancy card giving me access to some free breakfast and WiFi (I somehow always have an appetite). What is a trip without a shot of food and beverage right? And a random stack of face towels…?

So after breakfast was quickly wolfed down off I went to the gate. Nerves started to kick in and then I realized I somehow managed to forget my book (HOW…HOW), no matter there is a book shop in the airport, new book picked up and now off to the gate, book in hand.

While sitting on the plane I looked at my second boarding card and noticed the time of the flight, (goodbye common sense hello nerves)…why does it basically say I will have 0 minutes to catch my second flight when I land??? Read and re-read the boarding card, check and rechecked the time. The couple beside me are discussing their second flight and how they will have 45 minutes for their connection with a tiny bit of nervousness in their voices. I quickly turn to them “Doha is 1 hour behind us right?” He quickly proceeded to check his phone (could have done than myself…again nerves). “I think you might be right”….I hope so otherwise I am doomed before I get there! “Excuse me (to the air-hostess) Doha is 1 hour behind us right?” “Yes, Ma’am”. Relief took over and I smiled like a crazy clown (I don’t know why I keep referring to clowns I have deep seeded for them) to the couple beside me repeating what the was said even though they heard her too.

Let me skip the pesky details of the really dreadful “chicken” sandwich, slight turbulence (I am no good with turbulence at all think white knuckles, holding breath and praying). And let me get to the “good stuff”.

After landing and going through security (which seemed pointless to me since 1.5 hours ago I just did that; better safe than sorry) I make my way to the screen to see where my gate is. Of course, the other end of the airport! I leg it carrying my oh so (not) wonderful HUGE carry on that weighs a ton without anything in it let alone all my extras I carry on a plane. Marching and telling people to please move out the way (politely) I managed to get to my gate and….yes… ANOTHER security check, but this one was the mother load of checks.

Shoes off, scarf off (forgot to mention the scarf before), cardigan off, camera out and switched on, Laptop out and switched on, phone out and switched on, any other electronic items out and switched on. Through that beeping machine (I really do not know what it is called) and then a pat-down. I apparently must have been amusing to watch because two airport staff guys were standing there with fascination as this went on, whispering like two……ok I will let it go… (I was not pleased as you probably can tell)! Security check done and now everything goes back on and of course all gadgets should be switched off before the bags are stowed away on the plane for take-off.

I proceed to give in my boarding card & get “Excuse me Ma’am but you have to go back through security”. If looks could kill, the guy wouldn’t have been able to finish his sentence. “Um what? Go through THAT (pointing at the line and that whole ordeal) AGAIN?” “Yes Ma’am, I am sorry but it says on the screen that you need to go through again”. “WHY?? I just did all that”! He proceeds to move from behind the desk, passport and boarding card in hand without a word. My eyes are burning a hole in the back of his head. Luckily the pat-down lady saw us “Why is she coming back, she went through”. “Are you sure”. “I just checked her, she is fine”. Nothing else from boarding card & passport man other than “Have a good flight Ma’am”. *HUGE EYE ROLL*.

plane

I board my flight and I am seated on an isle seat the middle row for a 14.5 hour flight with no one sitting in the middle seat (happiness)! Now I remembered that I forgot my sunglasses after seeing a girl on the plane taking a Selfie with sunglasses on (HOW…HOW)? No, I did not buy a pair on the plane LOL! Enter again the “chicken” sandwich. At lunch time I am about ready for a bottle of wine but I settle for a glass or two. Now enter turbulence! The mother load of turbulence! Think skeleton knuckles, lip biting and screaming prayers (internally lol). I basically got maybe 3 hours sleep on the flight with endless hours of movie watching thanks to nerves, excitement and being jolted awake by turbulence.

After 14.5 hours of flight time, alcohol, finally something decent enough to eat and strolls up and down the plane I land in Washington Dulles Airport. I stepped outside the airport at 3:00 pm on the 21st November 2016 (yes it was 21st November AGAIN time difference is something else, more about this in my next post). I am greeted by 1 Degrees Celsius (33.8 Fahrenheit) wearing my sweater and cardigan. You best believe my luggage was opened and my thick coat and gloves were brought out. Smiling (again like a crazy clown) I am staring up at a beautiful blue sky, feeling the crisp “freezing” breeze and the excitement of exploration has taken over! First stop Woodbridge, Virginia…

to be continued in part 2.

Maicurls

Easy Milkmaid Twists

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Hey Maicurlies,

So today I have a styling tutorial of my Milkmaid Twists.

Milkmaid Twists

Now I will point out that I am not all that crazy about how this particular style looks on me (I love the style on others) the main reason why I don’t like it on myself that much is because my forehead and ears become quite obvious because all my hair is pulled back and away from my face LOL. I do like the fact that it is a protective/ low manipulation style since your hair is tucked away and can be left alone for days even.

The style of course is a breeze to do and doesn’t require too many products either. Please note: I actually recorded this video working on old, frizzy hair (that had seen better days) but even with the frizz and mess the final look still ends up looking polished and neat. The video was recorded a few months back but since I was not that big of a fan I put it away without editing it, until I was kindly requested to share the video so I did 🙂

Tools/Products used:

2 ouchless Hair Bubbles
2 Bobby Pins
Dye Brush (the pointy part to make a middle parting)
DIY Flaxseed Gel (FSG)
DIY Hair Pomade
Soft Bristle Brush

Method:

The first step is to split my hair in the middle in order to make two side ponytails (please note again apart from the frizz I also don’t make neat partings – I have issues). After parting, I use some FSG to help smooth out my hair and “tame” the frizz a little. I also follow up with a little of my Hair Pomade on my edges to help provide a little extra shine and thanks to the ingredients in the pomade it also helps protect and aid in the health of my edges. I use the soft bristle brush to bring my hair together and distribute the products applied. The soft bristle brush along with the gel and pomade really helps to give that “smooth” look. I pull my hair together into two side ponytails and then two strand twist each side. I then cross each twist over the top and bobby pin them on the opposite side (under the base of the twist) and tuck away the ends under the base of each twist and that is it.

Milkmaid Twists

Additional:

I tend to add a wide ribbon to help accessorize the look, I like to think it makes the style look a little more “fancy” while at the same time helps me feel that I have caused some distraction away from my forehead and ears (yes I am not a fan of them!)

Milkmaid Twists with Ribbon

Whenever I do this style I actually just take down the bobby pins, cover my hair with a scarf for the night and the next morning I touch up my edges if there is need to and then re-pin them down so I get to protect my hair for a few days.

I have a video of course:

Would love to hear if you do Milkmaid Twists, if your method is different or if you have any suggestions for me.

Thanks

Maicurls

Twisted Flexi Rod Set

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Hey Maicurlies,

(Cheat) Twisted Flexi Rod Set

So I have recently become a little obsessed with Flexi Rod sets and wanted to share a method that I like to refer to as the (cheat) Twisted Flexi Rod set. I say “cheat” because I basically wear my hair in twists first for a few days and then instead of just taking down my hair for a twist-out I twirl my hair around Flexi Rods overnight and then have a Twisted Flexi Rod set the following day.

In this particular example I had my hair in 23 twists for 5 days and remoisturized them two days before putting in the Flexi Rods. To remoisturize I took them down at night, applied my DIY Moisturizing and Curl Activating Spray and retwisted. I felt no need to add moisture before using the Flexi Rods so I just went straight into setting my hair with a little gel. I literally rubbed some DIY Rosewater Flaxseed Gel (FSG) over my twisted hair (without undoing the twists) and then followed up with some oil. The FSG does two things: helps provide hold and has moisturizing properties of its own. The oil helps to seal in the moisture from the FSG and also adds shine.

I covered my hair with a scarf overnight and then took down the Flexi Rods, unraveled the twists, separated my hair and then lifted my roots a little with an Afro comb. Le fin!

Twisted Flexi Rod Set

Twisted Flexi Rod Set (back)

Twisted Flexi Rod Set

Products/ Tools

DIY Rosewater Flaxseed Gel
Vanilla Infused Almond Oil
Flexi Rods (12 Orange 10 yellow)
Afro Comb

Here is a video tutorial of the whole process.

I would love to hear what you think!

Thanks

Maicurls

Birthday Look and What I did

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Hey Maicurlies,

So this is going to be a quick post. It actually was my Birthday a week ago (the 7th) so I wanted to share a few details about what I did, what I did with my hair and all the goodies I got! My loved ones spoilt me rotten 😀

So this is what I did with my hair:

Surprise surprise….a Twist Out! It turned out quite well so I was happy.

I used my leave-in conditioner (my updated mix which I need to post here soon), almond oil and a little whipped butter. I put my hair in 6 twists the night before, covered with a satin scarf and left them in until I was getting ready for the “celebrations”. I took down the twists, separated with a little almond oil on my fingers and fluffed.

So for my “celebration” I went out with my family to this AMAZING Mongolian Restaurant. The food was awesome! The menu included a soup as starter, your main course and dessert. For mains you get to select what you want which could be a mix of: chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp and then a selection of vegetables: carrots, paprika, onions, green beans, tomatoes, spring onions as well as the sauces of which there were about 6 to pick from. You give your bowl to the chef who cooks it in an open kitchen and did I mention you could go for seconds, thirds, etc as many as your stomach can hold! The meats and seafood is kept cold/frozen so that it remains fresh and like I said you could go for only chicken, a combo of chicken and meat and if you are really crazy a mix of both meats and seafood together! Yes I rolled out of there full and happy. Oh and my choice of drink was white wine.

After dinner I went out with my friends for a few drinks…a good number of drinks which were Lychee Martinis! I LOVE this cocktail! My curlfriend got me hooked on them so I had to drag my friends to the best spot for cocktails of course. We ended up in our local spot and was surpirsed with a lovely birthday cake.

Now what did I get in terms of presents? I really got spoilt rotten!

Ok so these are my goodies! My sister and I like to give each other random gifts that we call “silly gifts”. So I got the softest bathrobe/house robe with matching shoes (It is sooooo soft I want to wear it all day everyday!), a square bean bag seat (silly gift), a cutting board (my sister said so I can prep food for her lol), plant ties (for my soon to be green garden), wireless speakers, red nail polish, iPod Shuffle, Galaxy S4, Tupperware (silly gift), boots (a girl can never have too many boots), kitchen trolley (so I can put all my DIY goodies and other ingredients!), money and I forgot to take a picture of 2 tops I also got. 😀 Can someone say spoilt!

It was a great Birthday 🙂 however, now I can no longer tick the box of 25 – 30…not so excited about that but hey!

Have a lovely day Maicurlies!

Maicurls

Protective Style & Castor Oil Week 4 Update

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Another week done Maicurlies!

Protective Style Challenge Week 4

I am on the last 2 weeks of my Protective Style and Castor Oil challenge and haven’t given up yet! 😀

For a recap of my previous weeks click below:

How did my fourth week go?

It went by well. I was able to protect my hair for 6 days and used my Castor Oil Mix 4 times in the week. I did a REALLY simple updo at the start of the week (I don’t want to call it “boring”) – the “Gibson Tuck” and then finished with what I call the “Chameleon Twist” (I liked this one!)

What Did I do?

I did my wash day routine on Sunday, a Henna Gloss followed by a moisturizing Deep Condition, moisturized and sealed before twisting 9 chunky twists.
Day 1 – After taking down the twists I massaged my Castor Oil Mix on my scalp, hairline, ends and put my hair in the Gibson Tuck with 2 two-strand twists on the side and a chunky two strand twist at the front – pinned as a “side bang”.

Gibson Tuck with two two strand twists on the side and a chunky two strand twist as a side bang.

Day 3 – I reapplied my Castor Oil mix to my scalp, hairline and ends.
Day 4 – I moisturized my hair with my DIY Creamy Leave-In Conditioner and sealed with my whipped butter mix. I then put my hair into my Chameleon Twist. To do the style I first did my “Twisted twist”.

Twisted Twist

– After making one big two strand twist from 7 medium twists held at then center of my head I tucked away the ends of my hair by wrapping it around the base.

Chameleon twist with pompadour

Day 5 – I took the Chameleon Twist down and massaged my scalp (as best I could), hairline and the ends of each of the 7 twists with my Castor Oil Mix then wrapped it back up.
Day 6 – At night took my hair down, massaged my scalp, hairline and ends with the Castor Oil Mix and pineappled to sleep.
Day 7 – Wash day routine and then got my hair ready to be set for week 5.

Castor Oil Challenge:

As mentioned, I used the blend 4 times during the week and my hair was suuuuuper smooth, moisturized, shiny and soft! I think my whipped butter sort of helped with that as well (particularly on my ends). I had been using my DIY Spray Leave-In Conditioner to remoisturize my hair mid week but decided to use the Creamy Leave-in and whipped butter for a change. My hair LOVED the combination of being moisturized and super sealed. I can’t say it enough, castor oil is the truth and when combined with other nourishing ingredients …bye bye dryness!

Looking forward to the last 2 weeks.

What do you think of the styles I did this week?

Maicurls

Redcarpet Look Inspired from YouTube Vlogger MsVaughn

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Good Afternoon Maicurlies,

So as I have mentioned before I am not a styling “guru” by any stretch of the imagination. I do however love trying different styles (some of them are fails) and this weekend I was shown a BEAUTIFUL Updo through a lovely new friend on the Napturally Curly forum. She showed me a video by the stunning Vlogger MsVaughn. This is a link to her direct video (where I got the look from.) My first attempt and results look a little different to the original because 1. I did not blow dry my hair as I do not use heat and 2. my hair is a little longer than MsVaughn’s so her twists seemed to meet in the perfect place and I had to try and twirl them around to get one “unified” twist look.

For my first attempt I am quite happy with my results.

I did play around with the look a little and tried to make the twists a little “tighter” just to see what it would look like. So I have found a new favorite Updo and with practice I am sure it will get better!!! 😀 I have put a little explanation of how I did the look on my Updo page here.

Page About my Twists is Done!

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Good Evening Maicurlies!

Small Twists Day 11

Medium Sized Twists

I am happy to say I finally (yes finally) finished writing/taking pictures of the twists I use. So as I have mentioned in the Twists page under “Mai Hair Routines” I do not do anything extraordinary different. I part my hair use my DIY Leave-In conditioner (to moisturize) and apply my Mixed Oil (to seal in the moisture). I occasionally will use my DIY Flax Seed Gel and when I do I will first mix the Gel with my Leave-In Conditioner or Fluffy Coconut Cream – Oil in a separate container. All my recipes can be found under the “Mai Hair Routines” Tab. Please do let me know how you do your Twists!

Thanks

Maicurls

Ms. Victoria Davis – Feature Story on Maicurls

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Good Evening Maicurlies.

Not only was I lucky enough to be featured on Ms. Victoria Davis’ beautiful Blog ClassyCurlies but she was kind enough to agree to share her Natural Hair Story on my little Blog! I am appreciate the opportunity and hope that you love reading her story as much as I did!

For a quick link to her story click here and do not forget to check out her Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest pages!

Thank you for sharing it with us Victoria!

Thanks

Maicurls

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