Simple Marley Twists hairstyles for long trips

From May 11th - 13th, Brian and I drove to Virginia to visit my family and watch my sister graduate from college!  She was number 3 out of her class of 700!  I was so proud of her and I was able to be close to the stage for her to see me and wave.  Eventually, the trip took a toll on me, especially since we got up at 5am everyday to travel.  On my last day in town, I missed dinner at my in-laws because I fell asleep on the couch.  Overall, we had fun and the trip was worth it.  Here are some pictures from the graduation:

And here is what I wore to the graduation:


Full Tilt Ruffle Belted Maxi Dress from Amazon.com
Mix No. 6 Bianca Wedge Pump from DSW.com 

In the meantime, I did my third installment of my Marley Twists so I didn't have to worry about my hair as much.  Here are my four go-to styles I had for the whole weekend.  Each style took between 1-5 minutes and required only 1 bobby pin.  2 out of the 4 hairstyles were even done in my car!  I will provide a tutorial on these styles soon!
10 hour drive as a passenger?  Try this: Bun with Satin Scarf.

This style allowed me to keep my edges smooth while I slept during most of the drive.

Simple style to try after the drive?  Try this: Half up do.

 

Graduation guest hair?  Try this: Side Braided bun

 

After graduation hair?  Try this: Side Braid

"Graduation guest hair" with the bobby pin removed.

Bonus:
College Graduate trying to fit your natural hair under your cap?  Try these:

Texture Thursday: Marley Twist Installment #3

Before I went to My co-worker's Birthday party on last Saturday.
Installment #1
Installment #2
FAQ

Last Friday, I did my third installment of my Marley Twists. As I stated on BR 2.0's Facebook page, the next couple of weekends will be super busy for me, so I decided to let my hair take a break. Also, I'm going back to Virginia Mother's Day weekend for my sister's graduation, so it was going to be rough to style my hair during a 10 hour drive and dealing with humidity. This is my BEST installment so far and I think this will be my staple for future installments! Here are the things I did differently from the first and second installment:

• I used two packs of hair. Just like the second installment, I sectioned my hair in fours and installed 9-10 braids to each section. The difference is that I used one piece of the Marley Hair instead of two. It's less bulky and my natural hair stays in the twists. Also, I don't have to buy three packs of hair! I did come across pieces that were too thin. If that happens, double it up with another thin piece.

And here is my regimen and tips for my Marley Twists from all three installments:

Estimated Time:

• 4-6 Hours

Tools for Installing:

• 2 packs of M1B/27 Femi Collection Marley Braid hair
• Ecostyler Olive Oil Gel
• Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie

Tools for Maintenance:

• Braid Spray: African Pride Sheen Spray
• Oil: Taliah Waajid Protective Mist Bodifier
• Cleansing: Taliah Waajid Moisture Clenz

Prep:

• 1 hour: washing (sulfate free shampoo and conditioner), deep conditioning and leave-in conditioner
• 1 hour: 80% air dry and tension blow drying the rest.
• 2-4 hours: Moisturize hair, Parting 4 sections, separating and fluffing the Marley hair, and twisting hair with gel.
• 9-10 braids to each section with one piece of Marley Hair. I hade a total of 40 twists.

Twisting the Hair: These two links contain YouTube videos of how to twist the hair.

• Video 1: CurlyNikki
• Video 2: A Lovely Day BR

Maintenance:

• Spray with braid sheen and oil daily. Don't use a cream! It will create build up on your roots.
• Wipe through scalp with the cleansing spray and follow with the braid and oil spray when itchy on the weekends.
• Wrap hair with a satin scarf.
• Re-twist when needed.

How long to leave in:

• 4-6 weeks.

Styles:

• Marley Twists Side Bun
• Valentine's Day Hairstyles
• Kinky Twists Styles
• How to Style Your Box Braids
• Protective Hairstyle with Long Twists
• 7 Ways to Style Senegalese Twists

Texture Thursday: Length Check

Length Check:  What a difference a year can make!

Every 3-4 months, I get my routine trim.  I'm not a big fan of straighten hair because I have fine hair, but it is nice to change my hair once in a while.  Yesterday, I got my much need trim.  The difference between this trim and my previous trims is that I changed my co-washing regimen.  Here's the my story: 

In February 2012, I started co-washing.  My hair thanked me and it was better moisturized.  Around this time, I also perfected my L.O.C. method.  April 2012, my hair was to my shoulders!  My hair hadn't been this long since college, so I wanted to make sure I did everything right.  During the Summer of 2012, I didn't have the money to get my regular trims.  I thought by moisturizing my hair alone, my hair would be saved when I finally did.  By September, I noticed that my ends looked raggedy and my hair stopped responding to the co-washes.  Thanks to a couple of my friends, they got me to change to a better moisturizing conditioner and stop using a lot of proteins.  I used coconut oil in all my products: shampoo, conditioner, leave-in, deep conditioner and moisturizer.  This made my hair feel semi-hard. It felt like I used a sulfate shampoo with product on top of it. I don't know if it was because I needed a trim or if I had too much product build up. Even when I used a sulfate-free shampoo to remove the build up, afterwards, it still felt semi-hard when I co-washed again.

After I trimmed my hair in October 2012, I cut back on the coconut oil and only used it in my shampoo and leave-in.  I also switched from Suave Naturals to V05.  When I changed my regimen, my hair felt better than ever.  I also started installing Marley Twists as a protective style to keep the stress off my hair.  When I got my trim today, I realized it was a year since I first co-washed.  I decided to compare my pictures in 6 month intervals to see a difference.

And here are the results:  Growth and fullness!


Front.

Back.  My hair is much fuller after a year of co-washing.

Thanks to all my curly heads who helped me change my regimen!  My hair may be at the same length it was a year ago, but it is the healthiest it has ever been.  I'm going to get to my hair goal in no time!

Click here to check out the rest of my regimen!

Texture Thursday: Ask.fm Questions

On Sunday, I received a question through my Ask.fm page about my Marley Twist:

"Where are the photos of you with twists done w/ marley hair?? Is there a tutorial?? How much hair did you use? How long did it take?? How big were they?? Thanks!"

Photos can be found here:
Chela's Natural Hair Page
Chela's Marley Twists Posts
First Installation
Second Installation
Marley Twist Side Bun
These links show my natural journey, my first and second trial with the twists and hair styles that I have done.

 

I got the tutorial from CurlyNikki & Alovelydaybr:

CurlyNikki
A Lovely Day BR
These two links contain Youtube videos of how to twist the hair.

 

These are my results for the first and second installation:

First Installation
Second Installation
These links contain what I used and the outcome of the twists.

 

Not including washing and drying, it took me 2 hours with 2 packs of hair. When I did 3 packs, it took 4 hours. I recommend using 3 packs because it makes the hair look fuller and less spacey. I had about 40 twists with 3 packs. It depends on the look you are going for. When I installed them, I join two pieces of hair together and fluffed them. They were about the size of two pencils. You can see them on the links above.

 

Hopefully, these links helped the poster above and anyone else who has questions!

Texture Thursday: Marley Twists Side Bun

Welcome to my final installment of the Annual Sweetheart dance.  I went over how I found the Marley Twists Side Bun; now I will tell you how I was able to do it.  This will also work on loose hair!

Tools:
A couple of bobby pins.   I needed about 5-10.

Directions:
First of all, let your hair hang out!

Now follow these 8 steps:

 



1. Pull four twists (or 50% of the front row of twists) to the front. 
2. Clip the four twist and comb the rest of the hair to the side.
3. Separate the hair into two pieces.
4. Twist.
5. Pin curl the side twist and secure with bobby pins.
6. Remove clip from the front and wrap hair around your hand.
7. Slide the twist off your hand and pin curl above the bun.  Secure with bobby pins.
8. Tada! 

Results: 

Other than posing for the camera (thanks Brian), this style only took 5 minutes to do.  When I first styled it for the event, it took 30 minutes.  It is also less stress than putting my hair in a bun.  Be careful about the bobby pins you use because it can snag the marley twists.

I will be trying this hairstyle again for my best friend's wedding later this year :-). 

Married Monday: Annual Sweetheart Dance

Finally, my post about the famous Annual Sweetheart Dance for my mother-in-law's sorority.  Every year, since 2004, my husband and I have been going to this dance around Valentine's Day.  This is a dance to help raise money for the sorority's scholarship fund.  At the Sweetheart Dance, we have a nice dinner; a raffle; and of course - dancing!  Because this usually falls around or on Valentine's Day, we don't do anything big on the the 14th.  Below shows Brian and I over the past 9 years:

The dances over the past 9 years.  We didn't dress up for 2005 because I had an Honor's program to attend before it.  We also missed 2012.  My favorite style was from 2010.

Since we missed last year's dance, I was really looking forward to going.  Not only was it the first time we had seen a few people in the past year, it was the first time we went to the dance as husband and wife.  In preparation for previous dances, after Brian and I pick our color scheme, my Mom always helped me find the perfect dress.  This year, we took a different route.

The Dress 

In November, my Mom and sister gave me 3 bags worth of gently used clothes that my sister didn't wear anymore.  A lot of the clothes still had tags on them.  In the bag was a black dress.  My sister had worn this dress in 2005 for her Freshman Cheerleading Ball and threw it in the corner.  My Mom knew my sister had forgotten about it, so she put it in the bag.  When I first saw the dress, I was not a fan of it because it was long sleeved and was down to my ankles.  The thing that won me over was that the back was open.  Since the dress was taken care of, next was the makeup.

The Makeup

I have two basic looks for my makeup, work/church and special events.  I wanted to go more dramatic like 2010, so I wanted to revisit eye liner.  After I receive AMAZING tips from a couple of my friends, I found the look I wanted on Pinterest:

Here are the results:

Hair: Marley Twist Side Bun
Shoes: Payless.com
Dress: Newport-news.com
Jewelry & Purse: Reused from other Dances

This was the first year that I didn't have my Mom help me prepare for the dance.  Since she had to work, we visited her before we went to the dance.  She was soooooo happy to see us:

The dance
The dance was great.  Like I said before, it's a scholarship dance, so there was a variety of ages.  After we ate, the sorority members walked in and made a big circle while calling the other member to join them.  Next, they all sung their famous song and started another line dance.  Afterwards, they had their raffle and opened the floor for everyone to dance.  We didn't get out of our seats this year, but we did catch up and talked with a couple of our friends and family.

I have to say this was my favorite year.  The weather was great - but chilly, family was amazing, and the dance was cool as usual.  Hopefully, I will join the sorority one day to fully participate in the dance!

On Thursday, I will wrap up my post about the Dance and show you how to duplicate my Side Bun!