:)

This morning, something happened to me that has never, ever happened to me before in the history of my natural hair journey. I was able to achieve 2nd day hair. To some of ya'll this may not be a big deal. But for me, the notion of putting in work on a twist or braidout, or even bantu knots and rocking a nearly identical look on the days following was a foreign concept..... until today! After a good hair day, the 2nd day aftermath usually results in a bun or updo of some sort. But the game is about to change!

As you all know, I was super in love with the results from my DIY fluffy styling cream and satin braid-out. After I got in last night from my hot date with BF, I sat on the internets looking to some of my favorite bloggers for re-affirmation on preserving braid and twist-outs. Pineapple. Bonnet. Satin pillowcase. Loose braiding. I fear pineappling would disturb the pattern on my heat-damaged hair. Bonnet = smoosh city. Satin pillowcase was a little to liberated for me (I'm a wild sleeper). Loose braiding may pose the same problem as pineappling.

My solution? Tie on my tan satin scarf, let the ends fly free on my satin pillowcase, and call it a night.

This morning, I covered my exposed ends wit a shower cap, and when I was ready to style//walk out the door, I undid my scarf, fluffed out, and bounced. No DIY cream, no misting with water, nothing. Lo and behold, my hair looked pretty darn good. Like almost identical to last night good.

Scarfing, and the results. #somuchwin

Even better than my style lasting, the DIY fluffy styling cream has my hair feeling touchably soft, smooth, fluffy, shiny as all get out, bouncy, and non-greasy.

Heck. Yeah.

RIP Satin Scarf...

I was going to wait until Monday to post this, but I woke up the morning after STILL uber excited about my hair. BF had a hard time understanding why I insisted on taking so many pictures in the car while on our way to Macaroni Grill for dinner. I was just so enthralled with my results that I haaaaaaad to make sure I captured them adequately for my Instagram and here on the blog.

I received a few questions about satin strips and achieving the style on Instagram, and I will do my best to explain them thoroughly here. Regular braid-outs can be a struggle for transitioners because of the inconsistency in hair thickness. The newly grown hair is almost always thicker than the relaxed or heat-damaged ends, which makes for half a great braid, and half a hot mess. Satin strips definitely help even the playing field, by not only creating a more uniform pattern on the thicker and thinner parts, but also by giving definition to ends that tend to always remain straight. Excited now? I am too. These are the basic steps I followed:

1. Detangle, Co-Wash & Condition
2. Towel Dry & Apply Leave-In
4. Braid With Satin Strips

Detangle, Co-Wash & Condition
For this step, I tried a couple of new things. One, I finger-detangled with a blend of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, Coconut Oil and water. I can honestly say it will probably be a while before I try that again. I didn't get nearly as much slip as I thought I would. I co-washed with Tresemme Anti-Breakage Conditioner for the 2nd time now, and I must say I am in love. I followed that up with a 10-minute conditioning blending Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Conditioner and Tresemme Anti-Breakage Conditioner. I must say...I LOVE this new blend of condish I'm trying. It leaves my hair moisturized, soft, fluffy, and full of body.

Towel Dry & Apply Leave-In
After the conditioning, I turbie-twisted my hair in a towel to absorb the excess water. Normally after this step, I would spritz a leave-in then seal. However, this time around I wanted to test out my new DIY fluffy styling cream -- featuring Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, Jojoba Oil, and Sweet Almond//Vitamin E Oil. I applied a moderate sized amount to my hands, rubbed together, then smoothed it down my hair.

Braid With Satin Strips
Before I get into how I braided, I will back up and share the origin of my satin strips. I searched high and low for a black satin scarf, to no avail. Okay, I'm lying -- I went to CVS and Target. When I found nothing, I realized that my best bet was to dig up one of my scarves from home. In my hair drawer, I have two scarves -- one for covering my natural textured hair (tan), the other for wrapping my heat-straightened hair (purple). Since I won't need that purple one until at least December, I grabbed my scissors and turned the scarf into strips, cutting them about an inch and a half each.

My satin strips used to look like this...

 Now, on to braiding. Have you ever had individual braids done, with added hair? If you have, it's just like that. If you've never had individuals done, or never seen them done...

My satin dookie braids

1. Section off your hair.
2. Apply leave-in or styling product of choice.
3. Wrap the middle of the satin strip around your hair, as close to the scalp as possible without creating tension that would pull your hair out.
4. Proceed to braid it down your hair. The key here is to not mix your hair in with the strip. Let the two halves of strip be like two pieces for braiding, and your hair be the 3rd.
5. Braid to the end of your hair (hopefully you have some strip left over), and tie the bottoms of the strips together into a knot. 

The next morning, or however many hours later, undo the knot at the end of the strips and take them down. Shake, fluff, whip back n' forth, and enjoy!

Pre-fluff. Waaaavy!

Before I sign off, here are some tips:

Post-fluff and shake.

• The best results almost always come when you start with clean hair, If you can, try this one after a shampoo or co-wash.
• Make sure your hair is 100% dry before you take the braids out. Otherwise, you're bound to have less-defined and more frizzy and stringy hair. No bueno.
• Make sure you braid all the way to the ends of your hair, especially if you're a transitioner. The worst thing ever is having super defined waves and sad looking straight ends.
• Unbraid the strips carefully. If you rush or haphazardly take the strips out, you run the risk of ruining the style you worked so hard to create.

Happy satin stripping!!! Lol, that doesn't sound right....oh well. 

Lately, I've been a little disenchanted with my hair. Okay, let me keep it real -- these two textures are driving me NUTS!!! I thought the more healthy hair I grew, the easier things would get. On the contrary, they've become a lot more difficult. Braid-outs are looking wack. Banana clips have become a distant memory. Bunning is like an Olympic sport. When this happens along my transition journey (it definitely happens every few months), this is a clear sign that I have some changing up to do. Not only do I need to re-evaluate my practices, but my products as well.

Lately I have been taking a lot of my cues from Hey Fran Hey and Napptural85. They both are big on natural products, simplicity, and DIY. Last time around, I made flaxseed gel following Napptural85's recipe. This week, I even started following the oil cleansing method for my face thanks to Fran.

With my hair's discontent and my interest in simplicity piquing, the natural move was to get back in the kitchen for another DIY mix. This time around, I took my cues again from Napptural85's video where she mixes up a sticky pomade and an everyday cream. I had no need for both, so I figured I'd land somewhere in the middle and craft a fluffy, everyday styling cream.

Here's Napptural85's video for reference:

I grabbed my bowl, handmixer, and storage container, and prepared for my next natural hair adventure. Napptural85 uses a lot of different oils in her mixes, but I decided that  these would suffice for me:

100% Pure Jojoba Oil -- Purchased at Trader Joe's for $7.99
Sweet Almond + Vitamin E Oil Mix -- Purchased at Whole Foods for $4.49
Organic Virgin Coconut Oil -- Purchased at Trader Joe's for $5.99
African Shea Butter -- Purchased at Dawah for $6

I started out with a Shea Butter base (I'd say about 65 - 70% of the mix is Shea Butter), then added Coconut Oil. I didn't measure anything -- but the amount of Coconut Oil mixed in was about 1/3 of the quantity of Shea Butter. Then, I added (by my rough estimate) about half an ounce of Jojoba Oil and Sweet Almond/Vitamin E Oil each.

I turned on the hand mixer, whipped it all up for about maybe 3 minutes total until all of the lumps were out. Here was my final product: a creamy, fluffy mix with the consistency whipped marshmallow or something.

It was very soft, because of the fresh-whipped nature. This morning (after an overnight temperature drop, of course) the mixture stiffened a little, to more of a pomade texture. I actually prefer this -- when I rubbed a little in my hands last night,it instantly melted. This morning when I rubbed it in my hands, it had a stronger feel to it, and it didn't completely melt. In fact, when I applied it to my hair this morning (in preparation for satin strip braid-out), it did an excellent job at defining my curls.

Once I see the results of this satin strip braid-out, this little mix may be here to stay.

Oh, and by the way, I was able to make an 8oz jar full of product -- and it barely made a dent in any of my ingredients. I could easily repeat this recipe at least 6 or 7 more times before running out. If that ain't #recessionproof, I don't know what is!

What's your favorite DIY recipe?

PS -- Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for more tips, tricks, and whatnot! @maneobjective

Happy Monday folks!

If you peruse the interwebs like me, searching for the latest and greatest natural hair DIY mixes and masques, chances are you've come across everything from bananas to bull sperm. While certain foods may do our bodies good, can we really be certain that they have the same impact on our tresses?

Click here to visit my most recent post on Black Girl Long Hair, and see if oat flour, banana, avocado, and egg are worth all the hoopla.

Enjoy!

Last week, I asked some of my Facebook friends and Mane Objective readers to weigh in on the next move for the blog. Tumblr? Migrate to WordPress? A Facebook Page?

The responses I recieved were unanimous (except for some jokesters --- April & Joanna --- who thought BlackPlanet and AIM Chatrooms would be great for the blog...lmao). Everyone thought Instagram was the way to go.

So...here we go! The Mane Objective is officially on Instagram. I'm going to try to stick mostly to haircare and natural hair photos, but I'm sure some of my everyday life will seep in.

I'm still new at this, so I'm not hip to all the lingo -- follow me? Insta me? Gram me? Whatever it is, the name on Instagram is maneobjective.

If you've got some pics you want to share on The Mane Objective's Instagram, e-mail me! tinapatrice@gmail.com

Have a great week on purpose!!!

Bands... #noJuicyJ

As ya'll know, I surrendered to the Chunky Braid Challenge. In lieu, I opted for protective low-manipulation styling this week -- a basic, basic, baaaaaaaaaaaaasic bun.

I am straying away from my banana clip bun (for now), because the ones I have literally snap in half when i try to stick my hair in it. I am by no means complaining, but trying to get my hair to stay in that two-bit contraption had become a pain in the kituckus. I am currently in search of the type of banana clip that is immovably fastened at one end. I believe they sell them at Sally's, I just haven't had the chance to go (Target, Walgreens, and CVS, you have failed me.)

To make my basic bun a success, I adopted the banding method of keeping my hair stretched at night. Sure, I go to bed looking like Snoop Dogg, but I wake up with super-stretched hair that is ready and roaring to go for my quick and basic bun.

Here is my banding routine:

Morning stretched hair

1. Separate hair into 4 sections. Since I am just going to slap it into a bun anyway, it didn't make sense to expend extra energy with a billion bands and sections.

2. Take the first section and spritz lightly with water. Follow up with a little leave-in (right now I'm doing a 'heavy' leave-in mix of Aussie Moist, Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Repairative Conditioner, coconut oil, and water).

3. Put the first band on like a loose ponytail. Move down another 1 - 2 inches and place another band. Lather, rinse, and repeat until you reach the end of your hair. The closer bands are, the more stretched your hair will be. You can either leave the ends out to preserve a pattern,or band them up too. Since my ends are heat-damaged straight, I left them out.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the remaining sections. Cover with a satin scarf or bonnet, and call it a night.

For my basic bun in the morning, I just take down each section, spritz with water for workability, throw a little Curl Enhancing Smoothie on the ends and get down to work. I pull my hair into a low ponytail, wrap it around, and secure with a second scrunchie. Five minutes, flat.

Take that, banana clip bun.
Oh who am I kidding? this bun isn't nearly as big or full-looking as the BCB....

My boring basic bun

But it gets the job done.

For more information on banding, visit:
Fran Explains Banding
Stretching Natural Hair on BGLH

Okay guys, I couldn't do it anymore. I failed miserably at Operation Chunky Challenge. I just... I can't do it anymore. Maybe I'm just not cut out for chunky braids. I wanted so badly to be about that life, but I looked and felt crazy walking around with those things in. At this point in the year, I have tons of meetings, and people to see, and I just felt that walking around with chunky, fuzzy braids wasn't a good representation of myself professionally, or my program.

This is by no means a slight to natural hair in the workplace, and I will address why in a post soon. This was simply me acknowledging that there are things I will and will not do with my natural hair. I may be able to revisit chunky braids, or even graduate on to chunky flat-twists once I have more curly and less heat-damaged hair. But for now, I'm waving that white flag. I'm sorry ya'll.

I'm gonna miss the dope braidouts on the weekends, though.

Cookin' up flaxseed gel...

So, like forever and a day ago I went to Sprouts and purchases some brown flaxseeds for about $1 a pound, with the intention of making flaxseed gel for my hair. Tip: never, ever purchase pre-packaged flaxseeds if they are available in bulk. Save yourself a considerable amount of money.

 Back to the gel. I put off making it for so long, because for some reason I thought it was more complicated than Napptural85 made it seem in this video. Sidebar: I totally have a hair crush on her now. I still love Hey Fran Hey, but AHHHH!!! I can't wait to finish this transition.


Once again, back to the gel. In order to make it, I pretty much followed Napptural85's recipe...with the exception of the essential oils. I added my own oil, which I will show you a little later in the post. Get ready, here's what you'll need:

Recycling my Shea Moisture jar

• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 2 cups water
• Pot
• Spoon
• Airtight container
• Old hosiery (for straining gel from seeds)
• Tongs (for straining)

The recipe is simple. Put flaxseeds in pot. Add water. Boil for about 10-13 minutes, stirring intermittently. When it's nice and gooey, pour through nylon hosiery and strain with the tongs. Refrigerate and enjoy. Simple, right?

Finished product, before added oils.

Oops..heat got to the jar a little.

Right. So because I didn't have all the fabulous essential oils Napptural85 has, I thought it would be a bright idea to mix in 2 teaspoons of Virgin Unrefined Coconut Oil. Silly rabbit, I somehow became compleeeeeeetley oblivious to the fact that I KNOW coconut oil congeals when the temperature drops. As a result, I was left with this a few hours later in the fridge:

www.fail.org/ishouldknowbetter

Next time Christina, add oils that keep the same consistency at any temperature...duh. Well, it looks freakish, but it still works. As I worked the catastrophic combo into each section of my hair for a braid-out, the coconut oil melted down because of the heat emitting from my hands. Well, we shall see how my braid-out turns out tomorrow.

Check-in with ya'll about the results soon!

BAQ Jamila Henna

This post has been a long time coming. Months ago, I attempted a video which was clearly a failure, because this post has no video embedded in it...haha. But if you recall, I have done a few posts here and on BGLH about henna, what it is, and what it does. I can't vouch for all of the rumors of the interwebs, but I can share what henna has meant to me as an avid user:

What Is Henna?
Henna (if 100% lawsonia inermis) is an all-natural plant native to Africa, Southern Asia, and Australia used to dye hair, skin, nails, and fabrics. It temporarily stains the aforementioned a reddish hue. The leaves of the plant are crushed and the dye is released using any number of liquids -- from hot water, to coffee or tea.

How Henna Has Helped Me:

• Thicken hair/add "weight" -- Every time I do a henna treatment, I notice that my hair appears to be thicker. This is because henna molecules bind to the keratin in the hair, creating plumpness of individual strands. Note that this effect is not permanent.
• Awesome color -- 100% natural henna will always stain your hair to some degree. Depending on how long you leave it, the ingredients you mix in, and the natural color of your hair, your color will range from deep orange to burgundy or coffee brown. It is almost like a natural cellophane.
• Shiny, strong hair -- Henna always makes my hair shine. Maybe it's the oils or the conditioner, but it always shines. I also notice less breakage whenever I henna...which is awesome for a transitioner.
• Psoriasis, be gone! -- To date, henna has been the ONLY thing to keep my scalp psoriasis at bay. I don't know why it works, but if it ain't broke don't fix it...

Now on to the fun part! There are many ways to make a henna mix, and you can tweak yours to work exactly with the ingredients your hair loves. To henna Tina Style, you'll need the following:

• Jamila Body Art Quality henna (I have Summer 2012 crop)
• Dabur Vatika Oil (or I use Virgin Unrefined Coconut Oil)
• Aussie Moist (make sure your conditioner is cheapie, has lots of slip, and NO proteins)
• Hot Water (or Tea...or Coffee...whatever you choose...I'm using Tazo Zen Green Tea with Spearmint & Lemongrass because that's what was in my cabinet)
• Paprika (optional...just trying it out this time)
• Plastic mixing bowl with lid
• Plastic or wooden mixing utensil (I use a plastic knife)
• Towels
• Plastic or latex gloves
• Your favorite deep conditioner (I like to mix Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula Deep Conditioning Protein Pack mixed with Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner)

Got your goodies? Great. Now let's get mixing....

1. Empty henna into plastic bowl. Combine with paprika (optional) and mix dry ingredients together.
2. Dump in a generous amount of Aussie Moist (I don't measure), and stir. It will look somewhat like halfway stirred dough.
3. Add a generous amount of Vatika Oil (about 1/5 or 1/4 of bottle) and continue stirring.



4. Lightly and incrementally add hot liquid to the mix and stir until your henna has the consistency of a batter or yogurt. Don't use too much tea or water -- you'll pay for it dearly when the water drips down your face and neck after you apply to your hair.
5. Cover your bowl with a lid or saran wrap and let it "cure" for at least an hour. You can wrap it in a hot towel or set it somewhere warm to help expedite the process.

Post-cure...more brownish

6. While the henna is curing, detangle, wash, and towel (or t-shirt) dry hair.
7. Put down your towels, and put on your gloves. It's about to get messy!
8. Apply henna to hair in sections. My personal preference is to scoop out with gloved hands, and rub it thoroughly on my hair and scalp (to treat the psoriasis).
9. After hair is completely covered, pile hair on top of head and cover with a Target bag (my preference), plastic cap, and shower cap. Night night!
10. Rinse out with water and more Aussie Moist. I prefer to do this in the shower to expedite the process.
11. Coat hair with deep conditioner as you normally would.
12. Rinse, and go about your normal moisture, sealing, and styling routine!




Do you henna? Send your recipes and pix to tinapatrice@gmail.com and get featured on The Mane Objective!

Just last week, I said I would be spending the month of October in chunky braids. Let me be the first to tell you that I have already failed miserably at that task. But just like working out and eating right to be healthy, you can't beat yourself up when you fall off. All you do is get back up, dust yourself off, and go at it again. Oh that's easy...right?

Wrong. In my mind, there were a million reasons why I couldn't keep my chunky braid promise to myself. My head is too big. The braids start out thick and get progressively thinner. I look like some kind of hoodlum. The list goes on and on. But in reality, here is what happened:

Monday: Okay, I rocked the braids. Awkward, but I'll live.
Tuesday: Oh, they're a tad fuzzy. But again, I'll live.
Wednesday: Hmm, I'll just re-do the braids, and keep it pushing. After rebraiding and making my way to a meeting at the LA Urban League, I learned that I had a meeting later that day with a UCLA Administrator, and several other Alumni, Faculty and community members. ABORT! ABORT! Looks like I'll be rocking a braid-out...
Thursday: This braid-out is just too darn cute. I can't go back to braids.
Friday: I'm rocking the braids today, because I want my hair to be cute for my hot date tonight.

Weekends don't count. I wear my hair out on the weekends, to keep myself sane.

Monday: Someone stole my purse on Friday. Since I have to go to DMV, I am rocking my braids-out because I might have to take a new license picture. Sidebar: I was wrong. They used the same stupid picture from 2008, right after I had chopped all my hair off like a mad woman.
Tuesday: My braidout is tapped. What the heck am I going to do? Pray I can get this mess into a bun.
Wednesday: Let's try this bun thing again.
Thursday: They're baaaaaaaaaaaack. After another epic shower detangling session, chunky braids have made their return. Only this time, I put two flat twists in the front for more definition. And yes, I look hood as ever.
Friday: I'm keeping these babies in. Gotta look cute for the weekend!

Every time I look in the mirror, I hear DJ Khaled & T-Pain, I'm so hooood....

That's my update folks. Hopefully, I can get my act together next week.

Usually when I sit down and get ready to blog, I have a laundry list of things I want to share with everyone -- from updates to tips, products and beyond. This morning, I endured another epic detangle session, but it wasn't nearly as taxing as the one I shared with ya'll last time. This morning, something was different. I woke up with a little more patience. Not that "patience is a virtue" patience, or that "good things come to those that wait" patience, but that "I'm going to take my time and do this right, even though it's pissing me off, because my hair is changing and I need to get on board" patience. Maybe we'll call that patience mixed with a little bit of resolve and determination.

Topics like patience, gentleness with your hair, loving your texture, and whatnot can become somewhat trite and yawn-worthy. When I get annoyed with my hair, I like to lean on some of my favorite bloggers and vloggers for inspiration and a visual reminder of where I wanna be.

In today's quest, I stumbled upon this video that literally had me LMAO. Check it out. Hopefully it tickles your funny-bone and reminds you to take a chill pill or two while on this natural hair journey.

Enjoy!


#shoutout to
Hey Fran Hey
Urban Bush Babes
Taren Guy
Chescalocs