Natural Afro Hairpieces

Me w/Power-Puffs, circa 1980

Weaves, wigs and hair pieces are a completely different world for me. I've never worn braids or extensions of any kind. I'm not knocking anyone who does. I just never explored or considered it for my personal use.

As a little girl, I had goo-gobs of hair and the same is true today. Today, I can almost duplicate the puffs in the baby pool pic (above), though it's doubtful you'll see me in a green checkered bikini, lol.  Eight months ago, it only took me 45 minutes to turn my afro into a full head of two-strand twists.  Now that same process takes about two hours. Wowsers!  Despite the increased amount of time and product required by the length, I'm so thankful to God for my hair, and I'm really happy it grew back so fast.

So the idea of adding more hair to my current situation makes me want to sit on the porch with some lemonade and fan myself! Then I saw this afro pony puff piece video by eturner820:



If I saw her on the street, I would NEVER have thought she was wearing a puff piece! It looks so chunky, soft and natural. After seeing her video, for the first time, I could see myself wearing an afro pony piece... and as the weather cools I'm even more likely to try it. In the meantime, here are a few more pieces I found online which I would wear, and all cost less than $20 as of the date of this post. If you don't find a fro you like on a particular site, search for the piece by name again. At least one of these has been reviewed by YouTubers and you can find them through multiple distributors. Note: I am not a paid advertiser/endorser for any of the following sites/brands, but just want to share what's out there!  

Noir Everytime Drawstring Ponytail Afro Sexy (photo source)

Magic Collections Ponytail AfroClip Large (photo source)

New Born Free Synthetic Drawstring Ponytail Effy (photo source)

Have you ever worn an afro piece?  Please school me.  

Love,
Shones

DIY Pinterest-Inspired Dresser Makeover

I finally did it -- my first furniture makeover project inspired by this Pinterest pin about a lovely coral-toned dresser. It's a great feeling to take something you've admired online and actually bring it to fruition.

Check out this video about my little dresser makeover, including before-and-after pics at the end. And just in case you want to skip all my hemming-and-hawing, I'll cut to the chase with a few "before" and "after" pics.

Measurements of dresser: 48" x 31" x "16
Glossy laminate/pressed wood

a grainy pic of the six drawers with gold hardware

And now the "after" pics. I'm am officially smitten with Annie Sloan Chalkboard Paint.

I used two coats of a shade called Greek Blue. The result was this matte, velvety finish, smooth to the touch. The paint had little to no scent. My brushes cleaned up easily with mild soap and water. Perhaps best of all, this project required no primer and only two thin coats of paint. So easy.

At around $38/can, it's not cheap, but you get a lot of bang for your buck. I only used a third of the one-liter can.

Yeah, you read that right. ONE-THIRD of a tiny little can covered the mirror frame AND the dresser.

It's butters, I tell you. Butters!  It can't be normal to like paint this much...

Have you ever used this brand before? If so, I'd love to see your project. Feel free to link to it in the comments section below.

Until next time, much love, and praise God,
Shones

Changing the way you *think* about your hair

How does going natural change the way you think about your hair?  

For me it meant adopting a completely different aesthetic, one by which I now value height and volume over hang. It didn't happen overnight though.

I've been natural since around 1997, but I took the pic above about a year ago. At the time I was really excited (as you can see by my cheesy smile) about having my hair blown out and flat-ironed by a pro. It was nice and cool outside, the sun was shining, and my hair was flowin! But within a few days, I grew weary of this look. I kept it in for two weeks only because... well, because I paid money to get it done and didn't want to "waste" the style. When he saw it, my husband was like "Meh." I was natural with a TWA when he met me, and my hair is one of the things which attracted him in the first place. Thank God for a natural-appreciative man.

TWA! Me and my dear Charles <3 td="td">

Picked-out fro, July 2012

Twist-out crown, pinned up in the back

close up of a twist-out, June 2011

It took me a while to see the beauty in hair which stands up and away from my face, hair with tight coils, frizzy hair, BIG hair. In fact, I don't think I really began to embrace frizz until the past year or so. Well-defined curls don't matter much when wearing natural hair in an intricate updo, a face-framing flat twist style, or a chunky unpicked fro. Curl definition is less of a rule to me; now it's just another option.  I still appreciate being able to achieve it when I want to, but I don't HAVE to see my curls poppin' all the time to be happy with my hair. I'm thankful for this changed mindset, this new aesthetic.

one of my first chunky twist-out afros

I'm also thankful that my lifestyle, job, etc. allows for me to do this without retribution or penalty. I understand not everyone feels they have quite as much leeway (though sometimes we really can get away with more than we think). Not everyone can do a faux-hawk at work without getting a side-eye from the boss. That's a whole 'nother post... but really, that's not the point. It's less about how "they" (whoever "they" are) regard your hair and beauty, and more about how you regard your hair and beauty.

whoa...

So whether you're going from bone-straight relaxed to a TWA, a big afro to long locs, or a well-defined twist-out to blown-out (or what I like to call "exploded") curls, it may take a real paradigm shift before it registers in your mind as a good thing, a beautiful thing. But this is your hair -- your God-given mane!

And this is my hair. Unique. Puffy. Healthy. Sometimes crazy and unpredictable, but always beautiful.

yeah!

Be patient. Look at your features and don't automatically see the frizz as something to fight. Instead, it is an aspect of your beauty to embrace and enjoy.

*climbing down off my soapbox, headin' on back inside the house*

Love,
Shoni