I'm a scarf lover and I've been wanting to do a scarves for hair video for ages, here it goes!

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I should have posted this ages ago but life took over.

I got these braids done on June the 14th so I'll have had them for 4 weeks on July 12th. I think they still have two weeks in them so I'll only take them out on 26th June. I still wash my hair weekly except after I just put them in I waited two weeks before the first wash.

These braids are great for hair growth because:

1. My hair is protected from breaking. The strands aren't individually vulnerable to breakage as they are bound together.
2. The edges have no stress on them
3. The single braids in the centre aren't built on a small patch of hair.
4. They last a minimum of four weeks giving you a great break from constant hair handling.
5. The styles is great for work or play - you can take it anywhere.

I got these done at a salon. I did allow my hair to be blow dried because as I've mentioned before I find that it leads to reduces tangling so that the braiding can be done faster with less resistance as the lines are drawn.

What's slightly unique about the style is that we did single twists in the centre so that when my hair isn't tied up you don't see a gap. It also makes my head look fuller.

I like to wear my style in one of two ways.

• Sometimes I tie it up with a scarf with the twists hanging down. 
• Mostly though, I use a scarf to tie it up like a bun. This is my favourite look.

I always use a large scarf or a medium scarf to create my styles.

By Xotica Hair

​Your summer is filled with exciting vacation plans no doubt; plans which don’t include twisting your hair at night. Yes, you love your natural hair, but sometimes you need a vacation from the daily maintenance as well. So whether your plans include sightseeing in Europe with bae or island hopping with your girls, here are three vacation proof natural hair ideas! 

Incorrectly popularized as "boxer braids", Ghana braids or cornrows are having a moment in popular culture and it’s no great wonder to natural hair girls who have been rocking them for years.

These braids are super easy to install and will keep your hair in formation from the plane to the beach. You can experiment with colors and length for a fun vacation look with no day to day maintenance.

​Just wrap it up or sleep on a silk pillowcase and spend that extra hair prepping time soaking up some sun! 

Another vacation proof hairstyle is a full sew-in weave. Even when all of your hair is covered in salt and sand, you can still maintain your signature natural look.

Using premium extensions, you will get perfect permanent curls without having to manipulate your own hair, and maintenance is super easy as well.

​Pineapple the hair at night and shake and go in the morning. You’ll look like a million bucks every day without spending a million hours perfecting your look! 

These take some time to install but the outcome is just gorgeous.

Box braids are many naturals’ go to protective style - and for good reason! They look pretty and polished and can be pulled up or manipulated into different styles with ease.

You can take them for a dip in the pool and go to dinner without redoing your hair. And best of all, they last for months. Talk about vacation proof!
 
By Xotica Hair
www.xoticahair.com

I wish I had done this sooner. I shaved one side of my head about 3 weeks before I shaved everything off and I loved it. 

If you've been wanting to do this, don't hesitate, get to the nearest barbers and enjoy your youth.

I saw the image of the girl on the left on the Neno Natural Facebook Page and shared it thinking it was her real hair and admitting my #HairCrush.

Then someone quickly pointed out they were havana twists and not her real hair and I was surprised because they look sooo real. These are at the top of my list for my next style.

I discovered that havana hair is:

• NOT marley hair
• Softer than many other hair types giving it a more authentic look
  
• Reusable so you save cash
  
• Long-lasting
• Can be washed and conditioned just like real hair

To create the above look you would need 4 to 7 packs depending on how thick your hair is and how densely packed you want your head to look.

Where can you get havana hair?

It seems to be very hard to get. I can't find any on eBay or Amazon and only one site in the US that is selling it. If you know more than me, hola at your girl!

My friend Dalilah of Hug My Hair is a pro with scarf styles for natural kinky and curly hair; she wears them daily. I invited her to teach me her styles. As with most hair styles it’s easier to show you how rather than write a novel explaining how the styles work. Enjoy the video: 

I have 4C Hair and if I go to bed with my afro out I tend to wake up with it all matted and looking extremely unkempt.

Whilst twisting or plaiting hair is excellent to prevent matting and tangling, I quite frankly don’t have the time, especially now that I am a mother.

Anyhow, because my hair is long enough I can effectively use the pineapple method for bedtime for a few days without incurring either matting or tangling. Unfortunately, however, the method cannot be used indefinitely because steam in showers and the daily water spritzes to hydrate kinky-curly hair naturally lead to shrinkage and hair gets harder to pineapple.

How Does The Pineapple Method Work?

1. After your weekly wash do whatever you do to stretch your hair, I normally two-strand twist.
2. At bedtime your hair will be in it’s stretched form. Flatten the sides and push the hair upwards to look like a pineapple (you can use a headband to help with this)
3. Use a satin or silk-effect scarf to tie the hair up
4. Put a satin cap over any hair that is sticking out at the top for extra protection. This is not a must but I personally like to do it.
5. Go to bed looking sexier than usual, lol.
   

Click to buy a 33.5 inch silk effect scarf to pineapple your hair. The scarf can be worn out to parties as well as in the boudoir.

I’ve always enjoyed swimming. Whenever I want a swim I make it coincide with my hair washday, usually Sunday. The rest of the week I jog.

Unfortunately, after about 18 weeks of pregnancy, jogging became tough for me so I started swimming more regularly.

Having to detangle and wash my hair carefully 2 to 3 times a week was never going to work with my lifestyle so I started wearing lots of cornrow styles. In fact, I actually started earlier in my pregnancy than that because I was frequently too tired for my hair in the first 3 months of pregnancy.

Anyhow, if you wear protective cornrow hairstyles you’ll be able to maintain the style for at least four weeks before it starts looking tatty and after your swim you only need 5 minutes to clean it.

Wash Routine For Regular Swimmers

After every swim I used the mild but effective Queen of Kinks Shampoo and I followed up with the conditioner. I let the conditioner sit whilst I showered and rinsed it off last, just before I left the shower.

My hair air-dried and later on I moisturized with the Queen of Kinks Moisturizer plus a thin layer of the oil treatment.

After 7 months of this, my hair is still in great condition. It is so low effort and works perfectly for the busy, regular swimmer.

You could also try regularly twisting your hair but frankly that will require a little more maintenance and touching up than cornrow styles.

Other styles that are good include, TWAs especially very short ones because they tend to be low-maintenance and flat twists, although they are less durable than cornrows.

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.

A very interesting thing happened recently: my Pinterest following doubled from 3.5k to 7k in like 2 weeks.

It had taken me a whole year to grow to 3,500 followers so I was very surprised, I thought I had been hit by bots because many of the new followers had very few followers themselves.

I contacted Pinterest to ask and got the explanation seen in the screenshot of my email. 

Apparently as a "super pinner" they are now promoting my pages to new joiners so those people see interesting posts right away. 

I am truly chuffed & humbled. I would also be very grateful to you if you followed the Neno Natural Pinterest board. 

I share amazing hairstyles every day to inspire you and make deciding your new “do” that much easier.

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.