Tuesday, November 19, 2013

My day at Hair Rules Salon in NYC!

 As part of my new job I travel to NY and a few other places to help put on conferences.  I manage registrations and such.  A few days of hard work with a little downtime depending on how I book my tickets.  This past trip in October I had 4 hours to kill on the last day before heading home to DC.

I decided to just walk around at first.  I put my bag in the holding room and began to roam.  I even kind of knew where I was in Manhattan because it was close to where we set up last time.  I then got this pang of selfish-spend-money-I-earned-itness and decided to buy something.  I walked into a huge Zara and the clothes were blah. everything was blah. I walked back out thinking about a blog post I'd seen recently where a girl went to see Dicky at Hair rules and he showed her how to do a wash & go his way.  I thought about going to a Deva salon...  or hell... how far away was Hair Rules?  My phone said 15 blocks.  Adventure time.

I simply walked there to see what would happen.

If you don't know about Dickey and his knowledge and ability to convert curl disbelievers into believers then please, please Google him. If, like me though, you've been natural for a while and have a pronounced natural curl pattern, you probably have a routine similar to his, but using your own products.  I'm def the latter. I can create a variety of wash and go looks by varying the products, method or application or way of allowing it to dry.  I had never used Hair Rules products before though, and I had not been to an actual salon in.... well over a year! Sheesh.  So I literally just wanted to pamper myself and do  little test of the products.  I figured maybe I'd even meet Dickey and he could give me some advice or tips for my hair type.

I walked and walked. Found the place. walked up. and BAM.  Dickey was at the front desk. lol.  It was a nice clean shop with a big window and lots of chairs. and he greated me, as did the receptionist and after a cup of water and some back story on why I was there we decided to have Dickey himself give me a teaching lesson. I think they called it a curly lesson.  Basically a wash and then "set" of the natural pattern using the Hair rules line.

I loved the experience but not the products, so I won't go into too much detail.  You guys know I am a gel girl and the Hair rules line doesn't have anything to give me the hold I'd need to get more than 3 days out of it.  My hair FELT fabulous. and looked great on day 1. but by day 2 I could tell I'd need to detangle in another day, as the frizz had set in. The girl who washed and conditioned and then detangled my hair (all thoroughly and gently) professed that she used an entire bottle of conditioner on my head.  I exclaimed WOW and she said yeah it happens, no biggie... But my wow came more from my knowledge that those products aren't cheap! lol

Anyways, not for me and my routine and hair length.  But if you like your hair to feel nice and have the time to re-cowash every 3 days or so then try out the line!  I also can't speak on the color, presses, or cuts there but they were quick and everyone who left looked great.

Here are some picts :-) He totally could be related to me. a lot.

 on the train home lol.  I was smelling myself.  New product always smells great!
 The next day :)

Monday, November 18, 2013

Back from vacation in Mexico!

I finally made it down to Cancun! The place of spring break lore and girl trip infamy. It was just me and my guy however, and we had a great time! 

The trip came close on the heals of a crazy Halloween party we had at the house a week earlier, so it was literally 2 days before takeoff when I realized I hadn't yet considered what to do with my hair!  I frantically called my home girl Jemima who gave me a few great ideas, one of which I half implemented. LOL I got lazy and tired halfway through.  The idea was to cornrow the sides and single braid a bunch of the front, then create some sort of twisted updo in back. I got through the cornrows and the first row of braids, but then all the rest became twists.  The back just became 8 big twists lol.  It still worked out because i didn't have to worry about a messy hairline or using elastics or anything to keep my hair out of my face, and I was still able to create a small variety of styles.  I had even decided to leave the back kind of free so I cuold do the whole sexy "getting out of the water" thing ;-* heheh.

But anyway- here was the front before leaving and a few days after. The individual twists and braids in front are just pined into a hump or swept to the side.

 
Inevitably I ended up in the pool and sweating and just wholly ignoring my hair for a few days but it held up! We actually went to the local Walmart on the bus one day. (hey you have to go to Walmart to see what's up for real, for real). I bought a big bottle of random conditioner and used that to co-wash the chlorine out.  Then I used shea butter and my Wetline gel - which is Mexican coincidentally, and they had a purple "lady" one there - and shingled/wash & go(ed?) the back of my hair for the next few days.
and here a few more of the trip over all: 
ok, fine- here's the boo too :)



and what was I for Halloween this year? A frog. lol

Amazon Store