Red Riding Hood & a Le Salon des Naturelles Giveaway!

Hello lovies!

Just showing ya the hair. I've been parting my hair down the middle here and there and it's a nice change from the side part - my default! I used the flexi rollers here in the same way that I did with the 30s inspired waves tutorial. I like this set a lot! It was a bit windy and it sprinkled a bit in the morning so I put on a scarf. There's quite a bit of red going on here! I'm wondering why I don't seem to have a blouse on in the last two photos, surely I do but I suppose I took it off to get out some wrinkles.. who knows? :)

..annnnnnnnd there's a book giveaway going on over at Le Salon des Naturelles. The lovely Evelyn is giving away The Science of Hair. Check out the post by clicking here and enter, all you gotta do is pick a number 1-50 or 51-100. I think I'm gonna enter myself!  :)  She also did a feature on me earlier this month, check it out and thanks again Evelyn for featuring me, I'm always appreciative of lil virtual spotlight love! ;D

Edited to add: Oops, I did miss a requirement for the contest, you did have to follow the blog prior to choosing a number. Thanks for the reminder Charish! :)

~The Retro Natural

Hair Settings Option #2: Curlformers

Hello, folks!  As promised (albeit a bit late!), I'll be presenting to you, my Curlformers hair setting video.  I use Curlformers from time to time to set my hair.  Normally I prefer to use these when I don't have to sleep on them (i.e.when I have time to sit under the dryer on a nice Saturday morning with tea and a book) but sometimes the only time you have is after work and you're forced to wear them to bed.  Here's a list of women with natural hair putting in the Curlformers in case you're curious.  I used the usual Giovanni leave in conditioner and coconut oil but I think I should have used more coconut oil. I couldn't decide on what to do with my hair after  I took them out and after a bit of rushing, I had some sort of...roll thing on the side..definitely not a victory roll..it was a roll all of it's own I suppose.  The back got fluffy/frizzy - my fault though, a bit too much rushing (the previous night) and brushing (the following morning!). This wasn't a 100% successful set but not bad for giving it a go on a weeknight. I sat under my vintage hair dryer for a while and let them in over night..maybe the back pieces weren't 100% dry.   In the end, I was alright with how it came out. :)

Enjoy!

~The Retro Natural

30s Inspired Side Swept Waves

Hello my retro enthusiasts! Remember seeing those Hollywood bombshells in their pretty satin robes with their hair gracefully swept to one side with tons of gorgeous waves? I know I do! Well, I'm back to give you a more detailed tutorial on those oh so glamorous waves that women wore in the 30s. I was so excited after having that "ah ha!" moment with the flexi rods because it was the perfect solution to my desire for waves rather than coils. I can get coils anytime but waves, BIG waves, were another story. Not anymore!  I'll be going to a birthday party for my sweetheart's grandmother tomorrow and I plan to wear this hairstyle with a very simple but very cute navy and white pleated dress.

 See my tutorial below for the glamour shot look. (I would have worn something more siren-ish but it's reallllly cold here near the beach and I needed to dress accordingly! I think I get points for still getting in a skirt with brown tights and faux suede pumps lol)  Maybe I'll play dress up over the weekend ;-D)

Hope you like love it!

~The Retro Natural

Making Serious Waves

 

This isn't about surfing, I tried that once. It was scary..probably because I can't swim very well. Anywho..this is about hair, but I bet you knew that! I love deep waves..I wasn't sure how to acheive them at first. I needed something to give me a smooth wave and most rollers give you a smooth coil. I tried putting flexi rods in a different way and ta da, it gave me the perfect look!  Check out the video below on the setting method. 

Once you remove the flexi rod, you're left with a big, wavy, section of hair that you can pin up or leave down. I normally pin it up in a slightly messy fashion...that's just me though. I'll show you what I do after I take down my whole head of flexi rods to get a really glam style in the next post! :)
 

Til then!

~The Retro Natural

Hair Setting Basics and a Simple Everyday Style

So you've already made the decision to shift from modern to a more retro style and you're thinking, "Where do I start?"

It can be overwhelming to go full out vintage because there were so many different factors to incorporating the looks from the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.  It can be a bit much to incorporate the hair, makeup, clothing and shoes so for the sake of making it a bit easy, we'll start with the hair and then go to makeup before getting to the style.

I think the most difficult section for African American women with naturally curly hair is of course the hair styling because you do have to set your hair to achieve some of the signature looks from past eras.  For my everyday, basic style, I start with hair that has been set in large braids or plaits with a front section of hair on a flexi rod roller.  This helps stretch and elongate the hair making it much more easy to style.  My hair is super thick so all the bobby pins in the world wouldn't hold it together if I for went the hair setting process! 

 Two large braids (plaits) give me nice big waves!

The products I use to set my hair are products I've used for a long time.  My leave in conditioner of choice is Giovanni Direct Leave In Conditioner and my hair moisturizer is organic virgin coconut oil. I apply the leave in first, then the coconut oil and smooth my hair with a simple plastic bristled brush.  Applying these products leave my hair soft and very bouncy.  You can allow your hair to set overnight or if you're pressed for time, sit under a dryer, you'll get the best results if you leave them in overnight though.  Focus on next say hair that's bouncy and smooth.  If you're starting with freshly washed hair, your hair will be more fluffy the next day.  If you plan to start on 2nd or 3rd day hair, you'll have more smooth and defined hair.

 I usually fold my hair upward towards the top of my head and pin in place.  Then I pull back the side pieces and pin those in place. This is really similar to the Southern Tease by Mane and Chic.  The last step is to create a victory roll with the front section of hair. Use what products you need to so that your hair is smooth with minimal flyaway hairs. I don't mind them that much but if you're meticulous about them, that's okay - you're just passionate! ;)

The way I go about creating a victory roll is to pull the section of hair out to the side and begin wrapping it around my pointer, middle, and ring fingers making sure to roll upward. Keep rolling until you reach your head and use bobby pins to secure it. Be sure to pin inside of the circle where your fingers were so it doesn't look flat - we don't want flat, we want volume! Next is umm...well, that's it! :) Easy right? Okay, maybe not but you do have to practice so hop to it and in the next post we'll be looking at incorporating multiple rolls to give you a different look.

Have fun with it! :)

~The Retro Natural