new hair...kinda

i've been wearing my hair natural and curly for a long, long, long long time - no chemical treatments (yes, there was a time when i chemically treated my hair), no crazy blow drying to make it straight, no gel (alcohol is the devil). but, it means that controlling this mop on top of my hair has been more and more difficult to try and figure out. my hair is definitely dry and so getting products and styling it properly became an obsession of mine. a serious obsession.

but spending money on a good curly hair cut wasn't on my list of things to do right away.

until last week. not sure what got into me but i went on the devachan website and booked an appointment for myself. i think my hair situation was just looking terrible so i knew that spending the money on a great cut was necessary.

the experience was ok...honestly, i'm not into stylists that make faces and make me feel like crying and laughing all at the same time because of the crazy faces they're making. but, the cut is amazing, my hair looks and feels healthy, and they gave me a ton of tips for dealing with my crazy hair.

i have some crazy hair.

big curly hair

guess who i met in person!

D!

(btw--how amazing does our hair look in this pic?!?)

and here's a shot of me in the shorts i made for myself (no pattern used):

that pic does no justice for my handmade crocheted shorts...

so the story behind those shorts goes a little something like this:

me (on a tuesday): i wanna make some shorts to wear to the boo's bday party. but the online free patterns  are all corny.

my friends: i don't know how you're going to do that...

tuesday after work - i picked up yarn, started working. 

by friday, 4am - the shorts were done.

i was able to wear them for the boo's bday party at night.

and the rest is history.

D's catch up

here i am, catching up since it's been a few weeks. 

to recap:

the boo + me + his bff + his bff's gf = nyc santacon. i was dressed as an elf!

potluck dinner parties with coloring and a game named "celebrity" = way too much fun. and way too much food.

 new years 2011. (my hair was looking GOOD that night).

and just for fun, here's a pic of a helmet i made for myself:

because i wanted to. and because finding a crocheted pattern for an aviator hat is kinda hard.

D's friday post

this is the PERFECT way to start off a friday:

happy weekend, folks!

what are your weekend plans?

D's outfit

on friday, i tried on like 25 outfits before leaving my house. don't ask.

this outfit:

outfit details - shirt: the boo's, pants, boots and earrings - h&m, other jewelry: random/thrifted/UO

was inspired by this pic:

(clearly not done as well as this...but...)

other outfits i tried on friday:

 details - shirt: old navy, pants and boots: h&m, poncho wrap thing: f21

details - shirt: from my sister, pants: h&m, boots: f21

idk...i just couldn't decide on an outfit.

BTW-my hair was looking AMAZING on friday with just some conditioner in it and nothing else:

curls are looking gooooooooooood.

D's outfit

this weather in nyc is depressing. it's been raining, cloudy, gray and just straight up gloomy. so in an attempt to brighten up my day a bit, i decided to wear a bright colorful dress:

with a leather jacket that was a hand me down that i am in LOVE with.

outfit details: dress, belt, boots, scarf and tights - h&m, sweater - gap, jacket - from a friend

btw--i've been wearing my hair slicked back for a few reasons. first of all, my workout routine requires me to workout 6 days a week and it's so intense that i sweat like a beast after so i have to wash my hair. and secondly, this rainy weather is a major bummer for my (already) large hair. so, i throw on the conditioner, pull it back, and call it a day.

holler.

D's curls

i've been meaning to talk a little about my hair routine since i started changing it up for the better. i realized that it's the little things that make a huge difference. so here it is from start to finish:

1. i use deva cut no poo shampoo in my hair. it's the BEST. seriously. it makes my hair feel soft and manageable and not tangle-y. that's always been my issue with shampoo so i would recommend it for your shampoo'ing needs. my normal routine is to shampoo once but there are some days when i'll do it twice. it just depends on how nasty i think my hair is.

2. i use the giovanni conditioner (for damaged hair). i went on a serious no alcohol products kick and researched all of the products in cvs until i found this conditioner. it's AMAZING. what i didn't realize is that i should keep at least half of the conditioner in my hair instead of washing it all out. best trick ever.

3. then i use a tshirt to get the excess water out of my hair. yes, you read that correctly--a tshirt. and while i'm doing that, i scrunch my hair so that the curls start to form.

4. after that, i found the giovanni leave in treatment works best. it's thick but really really good. i make sure to scrunch while i'm putting it in (sometimes i use the tshirt to scrunch the product into my hair).

5. then i use a curling iron on a low setting to give some of the curls more definition. for some reason, my hair in front sometimes dries in this weird straight but not straight look and no matter how much i scrunch it, it doesn't curl. so the curling iron helps that.

OH! and i'll flip my hair upside down and scrunch every so often to define the curls and get body. there are a few tricks i've been meaning to try so when i do, i will let you know.

and....that's it!

if you have any curly hair questions, please feel free to email/comment/message me. i'm more than happy to help out.

devacut

after a lot of internal debate, i FINALLY decided to get a devacut.

well, i kinda had to be pushed a little to do it from my sis but still. i did it!

but i didn't have to go far downtown to get it. i actually found a devacut hair specialist right here in my hood at salon zoe.

this was, by far, the BEST hair cut experience i've had in a really long time. 

my stylist, angela, started out with a consultation and asked me to take her through my hair regimen. if you know me, i have been trying to perfect this for some time. she actually told me that my routine is fine...and sent me straight to get my hair washed.

she checked out my hair again and told me i had beautiful curls. i've been feeling insecure about my curls for a while now and it was nice to hear a specialist tell me how nice my curls are. (happy dance).  she did some cutting, then sat me under the dryer to see how my curls looked, and then cut some more.

and VIOLA.

perfection.

i was so happy with the result, i have been convinced to buy the devacut shampoo. it's magical. and i've been searching for a really good shampoo for some time now. so regardless of price, i think i am seriously going to add the devacut shampoo to my regimen.

i'll stick with my conditioner, giovanni, though. i like it. and i am still going to do my avocado conditioner treatment once a week but without the added olive oil. she told me that too much oil will dry up my hair.

but i am in the market for a new leave-in conditioner. all suggestions will be taken into serious consideration (if the product is ALL NATURAL!).

besides my wonderful salon experience, i also got a tattoo this weekend. if you follow me on twitter, i twitpic'd it. check it out...

happy monday, folks!