Monday, November 26, 2012

Straight talk...



I straighten my strands about 2 - 3 times a year and it is always done during the cooler months. The images above were taken early November (on the 2nd) and today my strands are still worn straight.  I did do a wash after wearing it straight for two weeks, then washed/conditioned and straightened again.  In the images found within this post, I will attempt to describe my method for straightening my strands.  Please know that I am not a professional stylist and in no way is my method a full proof method for straightening one's strands.  I've have been styling my own hair for over 20 years and I have learned, via trial and error, what my hair likes and dislikes.  Know that whenever using heat to style one's strands you run the risk of heat damage, so always proceed with extreme caution!

From the image above you will see that my hair was set in fat twists after my W/C.  I never blow dry my hair prior to straightening. I find that allowing my strands to air dry allows for smoother results when straightening using either my flat iron or pressing comb.
I remove a set of twists, finger comb, then straighten using my flat iron to prepare my strands for my pressing comb.  I create small horizontal parts, flat iron the strands then proceed by making another horizontal part right above the newly straightened hair and flat iron until that section is completed.  After flat ironing each section, I create a single strand twist and use alligator clips to hold into place until my entire head of hair is straightened.

What hair looks like after alligator clips are removed in preparation to use pressing comb.

Hair is divided into five sections and held into place with alligator clips.  I then proceed to use my pressing comb to achieve a smoother press without having to use high heat.  After a few sections have been pressed with the comb I then follow up with my curing iron.


After a section has been curled, I apply Omega Hair oil then I use a magnetic roller to set the curled section while it is still warm. I proceed in this manner until my entire head of hair has been set in the curlers.  I wear it this way for about 30 minutes or more then one by one I remove a curler, create a pin curl, then secure with a clip.  Hair is wrapped overnight with a satin scarf.


Here are the results after pin curls are removed and hair is combed with an extra wide tooth comb.  I'm not one for stick straight hair.  I live in Texas and we like to do things big and that includes my hair!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Dickens of a Christmas...In McKinney!


This year's Christmas season has officially begun in our household.  Yesterday my family and I attended the annual premier festival, Dickens of a Christmas, located in the historic downtown McKinney, Texas.  There's food, entertainment and many fun filled activities for everyone in the family.  We ate, we laughed and had an absolute blast!  Click on the link for more information in case you want to visit (Dickens of a Christmas).  The festival ends tomorrow, Sunday, November 25th at 6pm.


One of our stops was at Wild Bill's Old Fashion Root Beer Soda shop.  My men absolutely love drinking root beer and were completely sold on making a purchase once the vendor promised them "unlimited refills" for our entire stay!  My men were also promised that if we visited again on Saturday, they were to just say the magic word and Wild Bill would refill their stainless steel mugs for free!


On top is a family favorite, kettle corn prepared by "Cowtown Kettle Corn.  The best kettle corn EVA!
And below is a picture of a personal favorite roasted corn topped with mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese.  Oh my goodness...just delicious!  We also had jerk chicken from Sadie B. Foods, which was delicious, but wished we had purchased the jerk turkey leg instead as it contained a larger portion of food.  A honorable mention goes to Chef's Kitchen for their gourmet soups and desserts.  May have to visit the festival again tonight just to give this vendor's creations a try as the smell coming from their tent last night was intoxicating.  The only reason we didn't stop by their tent was that we just didn't have any room left after downing all of Wild Bill's root beer!


While walking around downtown we stopped to listen to the music group, The Poor Kings.  They have a sound similar to John Mayer and because I'm a fan of JM's music, this group was a sweet surprise.  We purchased their CD and discovered that their band perform regularly at the local downtown McKinney restaurant, Spoons Cafe, which was another sweet surprise as we do love the sound of this city's local band.

As my family and I continued walking around downtown we discovered that this city came in second as the Best Place To Live in Money Magazine 2012.  I don't doubt it.  The people were friendly, the atmosphere was that of family, friends and of positive energy!  We loved the food and the entertainment and the feel of McKinney being a hometown community.  All of this we experienced while visiting got DH and myself into thinking of McKinney as being a great place to live!  Hmm...


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Cut it out!




 This past weekend I pressed-n-curled my strands (blog to come this week) and I was asked the question, "Do you trim your ends yourself?"  I answered the question by stating that I trim and cut my own hair.  This question later prompted me to go back and search past images taken after performing major cuts on my tresses.  Man I did a lot of cutting back in the day!  Not sure if I'll do any major cuts anytime soon, but I "will" make attempts to style my tresses in a way to create the illusion of short hair as short hair can be super cute and sexy!
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