Day 'N' Nite

On Saturday, my plans included running errands, lounging at my boyfriend's place, and seeing a play in the evening. I needed an outfit that would easily transition from day to night, without the risk of looking too dressed up during the day or too casual at night. I opted for a black cold-shoulder dress and paired it with a leopard print belt to cinch in my waist and add a pop of pattern. To tie in the brown in the leopard print belt to the whole outfit, I wore my brown flats, which were great for running around all day. I kept the make-up pretty bare during the day, then simply put on lip gloss in the evening.

Outfit details:

Cold shoulder dress: ASOS (sold out; similar here and here) // Leopard print belt: ASOS (sold out; similar here) // Brown flats: JC Penny

Honey

My hair has been SO unbelievably dry lately. I was in desperate need of a good moisturizing deep conditioner to repair my hair. You will be able to tell when you need a moisturizing deep conditioner; your hair will feel dryer than usual and won't hold onto moisture as easily as it usually does. My normally soft hair felt really brittle which is how I knew my hair was due for a moisturizing deep conditioning. On Wednesday night, after shampooing my hair, I went to reach for my deep conditioner and only then realized I finished up all my moisturizing deep conditioner last week.

With my hair soaking wet, I needed to think fast. I remembered I had some honey in the kitchen and decided to combine it with my conditioner to enhance it. Honey is a great addition to any conditioner. It is a humectant, meaning that it attracts moisture. Honey also softens natural hair and adds shine. I used roughly 2 parts conditioner and 1 part honey.

2/3 conditioner, 1/3 honey

I combined the conditioner and honey by putting both in the palm of one hand, then rubbing my hands together.  I applied the mixture from root to tip, section by section (I typically have 4 sections), while also gently finger detangling my hair, removing shed hair along the way.

Freshly washed hair, with conditioner and honey applied

Since it was a work night, I just left the conditioner in for 30 minutes instead of the usual hour. I put on a plastic cap and warm conditioning cap to allow my hair to quickly soak up the goodness of the honey and conditioner. After rinsing thoroughly, my hair felt and looked great. My curls seemed especially springy, my hair was shiny and most importantly, it was SOFT.

After rinsing out the conditioner; no product on hair.

If you feel your hair is especially dry, try adding honey or any other humectant to your conditioner. Other humectants I favor are glycerin and aloe vera juice. If using a humectant, please be sure to apply an oil or butter to your hair afterwards to lock that moisture in! Surprise, surprise, I used Jamaican Black Castor Oil...

Monochrome

Usually, I'm the queen of color, but I've been really into monochromatic outfits lately. The weather has been pretty warm in the DC area, so white has been go-to for keeping cool in this summer-like heat. I've had these printed pants for awhile, but this striped top is a fairly new addition to my wardrobe. I decided to take a risk (per usual) and pair these two items together. It was definitely eye-catching and had a really chic, summer feel to it. I paired the outfit with my black lace oxfords for the sake of adding some simplicity to the outfit--I felt like the outfit needed a solid color--though in retrospect, sandals would have been a better choice in order to break up all the black and white. I completed the look with a simple red lip, and I undid my twists for a bomb twist-out! Peep the definition! :)

Outfit details:

Striped Top: New Look (sold out; similar here and here) // Aztec Pants: Forever21+ (sold out; similar here) // Lace Oxfords: ASOS (sold out; similar here) 

Twist & Shout

Last week, I had the pleasure of going on vacation at a bed & breakfast on the Eastern Shore (MD). It was so serene and peaceful! While on vacation, I did not want to be bothered with fussing around with my hair, so I decided to get my hair done in mini twists. I love doing my hair, but I don't really have the patience for doing styles that take hours, so I made an appointment with my hairdresser.

Mini twists! They are so cute!

A communications mishap occurred, my hairdresser never showed, and in her absence, someone else tried to do my hair. What a disaster! There was somewhat of a language barrier, and even though I said several times over that I want my hair twisted, they blow dried it to death and were about to press my hair. Another lady at the salon tried to rectify the situation by re-wetting my hair and twisting it, but she was making the parts super big, which would have had me walking out there looking like a little girl. After wasting about an hour and a half of my time, and $25 of my money, I left out of there with my hair looking like this:

Forcing a smile... This is not the vacation hair I needed!

I was so mad! I could have done that at home for free! Fortunately, I got a last-minute appointment with someone else who did a wonderful job twisting my hair. I am so grateful there are so many natural hairstylists in the DC area or else I would have had to spend hours twisting my hair, which is what I wanted to avoid. Long story short--wait, can I still say that three paragraphs in?--I got my hair twisted up in time for my vacation. The twists aren't quite as small as I wanted and I feel like in the future, if I want them super small, I would just need to do them myself. Nonetheless, the hairstylist did a great job and come Friday, this hairstyle will have lasted me two weeks.

First day, feeling myself lol #swag

Vacay photo :)

Take me back!! lol

It's been great rocking this protective style, and keeping my hands out of my hair. I'll probably rock a twistout all weekend, then spend Sunday washing my hair and trying to figure out another low-manipulation style. What's your go-to protective style? I need ideas!