I Tried: Braid Hawk (Curly Hair)

Lately I've been seeing a hairstyle dubbed the "braid hawk" floating around Instagram and I kind of like it. I typically wear my hair in only three different ways; down, side braid, and top knot. However, I have been keeping an eye out for my next "look" and when I saw this I just couldn't resist.

And then I remembered that my hair looks like this...

Which is great! I'm not complaining. I love my curly locks, and they are so indicative of my personality. Buuuuuuut it's not so great for braiding. In fact, it's really annoying for braiding, but I soldiered on because I didn't want to be left out of this cool (at least I think so) trend.

so, without further ado here are some pictures of my first attempt at the braid hawk!

Side

Front

 

Side With Eyes Closed...

 Back

Top

After trying to section off the first three pieces of hair I felt immediate regret for having begun this process, but I was committed! By the end of it all my arms were tired and had not a single drop of blood left in them, and I'm pretty sure I damaged my hair trying to section it off. 

This style is basically a poof at the front with a french braid that you loosen up afterward. I did notice that this looks better if the sides are tight to your head because it really helps to show the height of the poof and braid to give that faux-hawk look. If you have little fly-aways, just pin them into the base of the braid to hide the bobby-pin and add a little hairspray for good measure. 

I really enjoyed wearing this hair style (after I regained the feeling in my arms) and will probably do it again in the future. If you are wanting to shake up your look, but don't want to make any serious changes, I feel like this is a great alternative.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and thanks for stopping by!

Things I Like: Books And Tea

Living in NYC has its advantages, one of them is the subway (when it's running on time and not too crowded...ok so it has advantages some of the time...) because I get to read for at least 20 minutes in one direction. The underground forces you to unplug and find other ways of entertaining yourself for however long you are in transit. It's true that you can people-watch, but New Yorkers tend to avoid eye contact like the plague, so we just read, nap, or listen to music.

I like to take a book that I can put down whenever, because when your stop comes up you gotta leave. My choices for this type of reading tend to come from the "young adults" section because I can half pay attention to the book and the other half I can pay attention to where I'm at.

I found this gem at Book Court in Carroll Gardens, BK  Counting By 7s written by Holly Goldberg Sloan. Very basically this book is about a young, genius girl who abruptly becomes orphaned and how her friends go above and beyond to keep her from getting lost in the system.

This is a great read and I highly recommend it. Keep in mind that it is not written for adults (though I feel like that is part of the awesomeness), so don't compare it to Jane Austen or Jack Kerouac, just enjoy it for what it is, just plain great.

On the flip side, when I'm not in transit I like chipping away at this behemoth. Medical Herbalism The Science And Practice Of Herbal Medicine by David Hoffmann. It's technical, but pretty easy to follow. In case you couldn't tell, I am a total nerd and I love learning new things. A few months ago I got into herbalism and when I "get into" something I dive in head first. I should add that I own and have read four other books on herbalism and reference them at least twice a week. But hey, it's all pretty amazing!

I stopped by my local herb shop Remedies Herb Shop on Court street this afternoon on my way home and picked up a couple of things. 

 On the left we have red raspberry leaf and on the right we have dried lemon peel. 

This herb has an abundance of easily assimilated calcium, among many other fantastic attributes. 

I'm not sure what good lemon peel is, but it tastes good in tea and I'm sure I can find answers somewhere. Let me know if you have an idea.

Well that was a varied post, but I wanted to share a couple of things that are a part of my day-to-day and have something other than skincare and makeup on this blog because there's more to beauty than all that business (though a good skincare regimen never hurt anyone).

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great rest of the day!

REVIEW: Macadamia Professional and Essential Elements

I got my October Birchbox yesterday (watch my unboxing video here) and was so excited about two of the products in specific that I used them that very evening.

1. Macadamia Professional Flawless Cleansing Conditioner
     I have VERY curly hair that tends to be on the dry side and I've been battling frizz for months now. Maybe it's a change in the weather or my diet, but there's been a crazy lack of moisture retention.
     I washed my hair with 2 pumps of the stuff (my hair is long as well as dry) and noticed a difference even just after the shower. Now here comes the oddball part of this hair situation, I sleep on my back with my hair straight above my head so that it doesn't strangle me in the night. My sister has long made up stories about how my hair has a personality of its own, has adventures, and might even be packing a gun (no, not really...unless it knows something I don't...). This also comes in handy when my hair is wet so that there's less frizz-inducing friction on my curls.
     When I woke up in the morning my curls were super soft, bouncy, and all-around good curls (see photo below). Normally I'd have to decide to either deal with the half frizzy mop or put it up in my usual top knot to avoid the confrontation, but today I was able to roll out of bed and get on with life (which is second best to being able to stay in bed and read three different books, go to the gym, then get back into bed after a shower).
     I've only used this product once so far, but since I've experienced such good results I'm going to use it all up. I'll be sad once it's gone! If you're in the market for something like this, it's worth the money in my opinion. I just don't have the cash to put towards it for now, but as soon as I do, believe me I will be purchasing a full size of this treat.

2. Essential Elements Wake Up Rosemary Shower Gel
     I haven't mentioned my love of rosemary yet, but now is the time. I am obsessed with it! The scent is uplifting and the essential oil has so many uses (it's excellent for circulation, do a little research and I'm sure you'll fall in love too. You should use essential oils responsibly), it's pretty incredible.
     Cold weather brings on dry skin, so I was delighted to find this rosemary shower gel in my Birchbox. My husband almost always has an itchy back from dry skin, so I've given it to him to test out. After one use his skin was noticeably softer. I'm a fan of anything that will alleviate itchiness. I'm pretty excited about trying out this product, even if it's through someone else, because it seems to be doing some good.

I've only had time to try out two of the samples from my October box, so I'll do a post on them another day if I end up liking them enough to have an opinion on them. If you want to see what they are, check out my video by clicking on the link at the beginning of this post.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!