Cultured in Media

Never heard of Kandyse McClure? Well I knew of her since I first seen her in the 2002 movie "Carrie." She played the character Sue. You know, the one with the beautiful curly natural hair that made her stand out from the other girls. Well, yea that's her.  She also was known for her role playing Anastasia Dualla on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica. To me Kandyse is absolutely stunning. She is one of the most beautiful African American women I have seen. Puts me in the mind of Kerri Washington. Kandyse McClure is pure African. Born in Durban, South Africa. "I danced so hard I arrived with straight  hair  and left with a head full of curls. " Her natural curls give her a exotic look that is the pure beauty in our African features. We have features that stand out like no other. Her hair appears to be in the 3a range. She also seems to enjoy a lot of wash-n-gos with some type of gel to keep the curls intact without any s...

Everything came out better than I expected. I looooove these braids. Had them in for a week now. Just posting to show you the finished result. It took me a total of 12 hours to complete considering I had to take care of a baby plus my grandfather just had triple bypass surgery. Now everybody is asking me to do theirs. Lol

I decided the best option for my hair was box braids. So far I have most of the hair done, just a little bit more to go. I will show off the finishing look after it is completed but for now, enjoy the pictures of my progress

As you recall from the previous post, I have decided to take the 90 day no heat challenge for myself. I have actually been doing well. Wearing nothing but cornrowed braided styles since I've started, it feels kind of good not having to do my hair everyday. For week one I had my hair braided like this ^. I tried to recreate the style but decided to do a little something different for back. I hate those little "naps" that will not stay up. Ugh! Week two, I tweaked the braids a little bit. I loved the outcome. This time around I left a large bang out and manipulated it with a plait or a twist to the side. And when I just took my braids out to wash, I simply wore a bun like below I am determined to not use heat until March 30th. That will be a complete 90 challenge.

This year I want to have the healthiest hair possible. I'm talking about me giving up the flat iron for 60 days. I know this is going to kill me but I have to be strong. Due to the breakage and split ends that I have been experiencing, this is a must. I also think that it is due to my lack of putting in heat protectant like I normally would. There are several styles I plan on using to help me with this 60 day challenge. I found that when I wet wrap my hair with wrapping lotion and some oil, it comes out pretty straight. For the first month, I am going to use braids as a means of protective styling. That way I do not have to use heat and do not have to constantly style. Currently I am wearing my hair like the images below. I will probably just wear a bun for the next month, something like I wore the day before the New Year so I did a length check for the beginning of this challenge. Good luck for those who chose to join me. Just remember to keep those ends seale...

I found a way to keep heat out of my hair temporarily. I don't have to flat iron to get straight hair. I just simply have to wash as normal, condition, then apply wrap/setting lotion to my hair along with some oil. Apply it to the hair in a beehive form. Make sure it's nice and flat. Then wrap with a scarf. Allow it to dry overnight. The next morning, you should see a straighter style without the use of heat. I usually put the front up in a bun and leave the back down. It actually works and this will be my go-to way of straight hair instead of heat until summer.

Due to the fail of the pin-curl, I did a wash-n-go for New Year's night. I still have to get used to my hair being jet-black in it's natural state. I don't really like it curly. I was just snapping pics, so don't mind the look =) If you notice, my curl pattern is very loose. I have to find a way to increase my curl pattern so I can rock certain looks.

For New Years, I attempted a pin curl style, which was a MAJOR fail. In an attempt to keep heat of my hair, i had wet wrapped it (which will be the next following post), then proceeded to pin curl after it was air dried. I guess I should have done it while it was still wet. I will attempt it again on wet hair this time and see if I have different results. It didn't look bad, but the curls ended up falling right out. On to the pics: Since it didn't come out the way I liked, I just simply pinned the hair back into a little pin-up with some bangs that did manage to curl up.

Q. WHAT WAS YOUR TRANSITIONING LIKE FOR YOU? WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO TRANSITION?   I was at a loss in my hair journey. I mean I didn't understand how to properly care for my hair like I thought I did. I would cut, color, relax, then repeat. I would glue tracks in and then just rip them out without care. I was just reckless. Finally finding hair boards in Jan 2010, I started taking better care for the health of my hair. I started transitioning in May of 2010. It wasn't as bad as some made it out to be. I mostly wore the Southern Tease bun. I loved that bun. I pretty trimmed and trimmed until I was relaxer free in March of 2011. That was due to an incident at the beauty salon. The stylist chopped off more than she was supposed to. Long story short, I was relaxer free in June 2011. Q. DO YOU HAVE ANY PRODUCT SUGGESTIONS TO HELP GROW MY HAIR OUT? Without a question, I would say Profectiv products. You can view my article here on why I suggest their products. Q. HAVE...

I pretty much documented my ups and downs this year. Overall I am extremely happy with my growth.  Reflecting back through this year, I had a few set-backs that I am still working on. If you remember, there was a section in the middle that I had to constantly trim because it was thin, short, and easily to break. I figured out that it was the way I was flat ironing. So to fix this, I trimmed off those broken ends to start with. I added a protein treatment into my regimen, and lastly, I flat ironed a different way.  Another set-back was recently. which is also a result of flat ironing too much. My hair started shedding like crazy. I mean I could not even lay down without hair falling everywhere. If I ran my hands or anything brushed against my hair, almost a ball sized amount would fall out.     So to fix the above, I stopped flat ironing every week again. Seems to be getting under control now. I hope  you all had as much growth or health to your hair as I...

It seems as if Karlie Redd from Love & Hip-Hop ATL is holding other secrets besides for her age and secret to her youthful looks. It seems as if she is holding out on her secret to naturally beautiful hip-length hair. I searched thoroughly for a hair regimen or products that she uses, but she seems to hold all the information back for an upcoming product line. Karlie Redd, Karlie Lewis, or Keisha Lewis, whichever you choose to call her, first stood out as a cast member on Vh1’s “Love & Hop-Hop Atlanta,” who had a love interest in the rapper Benzino. I on the other hand, like so many others, found her to be the same woman in SYFY’s “Scream Queens” in 2010. Even then, her hair was always in the best of shape. It is a known fact that she wears weaves, as she promoted the release of her own hair extension line, Redd Remy Hair.  During an interview, Karlie said the only reason she wears hair extensions is to add the effect of fullness to her hair. She also wears weaves to...