Review: Black Mamba or Black Mambo?

It's hair! Thank God because I am scared of snakes!!!!

24" Havana Mambo Twist Hair by the Janet Collection for Crochet interlocking. Price: under $10.00 USD.

The 12" version is supposed to be on back order. No one around town had it.

I cut this 24" kanekalon/toyokalon twist hair in half to complete my first crochet braids client.  The ends were not uniform and gave a more highly textured look.  Some people are satisfied with some extra frizz.  Others are not.

The latching is different because of one open end and one closed end.

About 12 of these come in one pack.

2015 Veteran's Day Loc Looks

As a former IBMer, I salute all those who have fought for our American freedom!

I also appreciate this Marines shirt that I was given as a gift.  It is a little too big, but I love it! I hope you love the extra curl in my locs too!

I have been "wrap and rolling" my locs at night with these animal print "wrap snap and go" rollers. I have highlighted these rollers on this blog in the past.  They are pillow soft.  Sally's Beauty supply stores has sold them in the past.

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!

Crochet Braids on Relaxed hair by Benita Blocker

Crochet Braids using Mamba Havana Twists by Benita Blocker.

My client has relaxed hair.  The braiding pattern was inspired by youtuber Sadora Paris.

Using one 24" twist cut in half, I filled the first track in the bang area.

One 24" twist expands quite a bit.

This is about 7 Twists cut in half.  So 14 pieces.  This is a sideview of the client.  3 packs of the 24" hair will be more than enough for this medium length look. The brand of the hair is Janet.

After cutting the twists for shape, we tried the side part look.

I then cut the bang area for a flatter look. Please remember that going from a relaxed straight look to a highly textured look is mindblowing.  It can take a few minutes or even a few days to get used to the new look.

Salon water Testing Using pH testing strips

Clorox Spa 5-way test strips can be purchased for around $11.00 USD for a 50 strips container from Walmart stores in the swimming pool section.  When I was at the ISSE Long Beach Hair show earlier this year, one of the instructors mentioned that our tap water in our shampoo bowls may not be 7.0 pH because of the additives in "city water." I have been curious about my salon water pH ever since then.

The strips test for bromine, alkanity, pH, chlorine, and hardness.

The strip on the left is the results after the salon testing.  The strip on the right is the unused test strip.  My salon water is soft as I was already informed about the city water.  However, the pH of my salon water seems to be elevated into a more alkaline pH.  It is not a toxic alkalinity but low pH conditioners are going to very important to every hairstyle to keep the hair cuticle sealed.  I hope to publish my 2015 Favorite products soon!!!

It is strange that people are buying more and more alkaline water to balance their acidic nature when the tap water appears to be alkaline already.

A 2015 Halloween Home Run

I'm celebrating 1,000,000 impressions for my blog!  (One million impressions and over 700,000 pageviews) This picture was my 2015 Halloween look!  I called it "Under the big top!"  It has been a big hit!

Also, the World Series was playing this past week.  I decided to wear a textured wig one day, and in 30 minutes, I had men- White, Black, short, and tall just flirting with me as I ran my errands. "That good hair" look is a "home run" everytime. Laughing out loud.  It doesn't have to be real hair - it just needs to look good.

As this was happening, I remembered a natural hair client telling me that she received more compliments in the two weeks that we did a perm rod set with me than she had received in the whole two years that she was natural.  This wig made me feel the same way.  

I also have a loc client who wears nothing but all types of textured wigs in different colors.  So I am thinking about doing the same thing for the winter months.  Of course, I will keep everyone posted with monthly check-in's!

This "Big Apple" cookie reminded me of my salon Applebaum Salon. 

Bringing a taste of the Big Apple to North Carolina.