D-I-Y Nappturaliciously: Ms. Mooch Gets Straightened Out!!!

Out of sheer boredom I decided to flat iron Ms. Mooch on Monday. I do not flat iron my hair often, so this was the first time in 2012.

Why did I flat iron my hair when it's been VERY hot and humid (when it's not raining) here in NYC and take walks twice a day with the major purpose of getting hot and sweaty?!?! Simple answer... I'm not very smart! LMAO

By yesterday, my hair showed no signs of ever being flat ironed. So I decided to flat iron it again, because I wanted to blog about it and because I promised to share more Ms. Mooch posts (and I'm a woman of my word!). I also had the opportunity to try out a new product in the process (Yay!), so I will talk a bit about that as well and give it a little bit of a preliminary review!

A WORD OF WARNING: I've never flat ironed my hair twice in one week before, and honestly wouldn't recommend it. But like I said, I promised to do more hair posts. Also, since last year, I have refined my technique a bit, so I thought I would share the process with you. And if my hair becomes horribly damaged I will expect you all to take up a collection to pay for my wig!! Just kidding! ;)

So first, I separated my hair into eight bantu knots. I find that they are perfect for keeping all of Ms. Mooch out of the way while I flat iron.

It's not that big of a secret, but I'm a total theater nerd! I love "Memphis: The Musical!!!!!

Once my flat iron's good and ready, I take down the first knot and apply a bit of Karen's Body Beautiful Creamylicious to the entire section. 

This stuff has edged out Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter as my "go to" hair cream. I love this stuff with a passion and broke my "no buy" policy to get some more when she had her recent sale. Simple and all-natural ingredients, works like a dream, and the fact that I can get in my favorite "Vanilla Lavender" scent?!? Yessss!!!

Once the section of hair is nicely full of the "good stuff", I part my hair and get to flat ironing!!

Usually I end up doing three parts per section, so it doesn't take a ridiculously long time to complete a section.

Once a section is done, I bantu knot it again.Vee of The HodgePodge Files suggested this... Thank you, girl! I seriously just used to let it hang there. Once I bantu knotted the section, I moved on to the next one, repeating these last few steps.

SIDENOTE: These pictures really highlights my weight loss to me. My eyes look bigger, and my double chin is totally less chin-y! LOL It's all about the small things you notice, I'm learning!

It's about this time I start sweating up a storm... which is exactly what you want to have happen when flat ironing your hair! LOL

But (as I do when taking my walks) I say, "Bring it on, Sweat Monster!!! I ain't afraid of you.. I'm from BROOKLYN, son!!!" LOL

Yeah... the Sweat Monster brought it!!! LMAO But I was able to finish the job without major incident. Once I was done, I was very excited to finish the job with Karen's Body Beautiful Beauty Boss 101, which I used for the first time on Monday, instead Carol's Daughter Hair Balm, which was what I used last year. Monday I went OVERBOARD with the stuff, which made poor Ms. Moochie look like the Exxon Valdez crashed on top of her!! This time, I was a lot more conservative with each section.

I applied by undoing each of the now-straightened bantu knots, and working it through each section. That stuff makes my hair feel super soft, and did I mention that you can purchase it scented, too?!? Ms. Mooch and I are both in Lavender-Vanilla scented hair HEAVEN!!! Beauty Boss 101 gets a thumbs up from me so far!!

I wish there was an internet equivalent to "Smell-o-Vision".... Seriously!!! Monday I posted on the Miss Moon's Musings FB page that last year I felt like my straightened hair made me look like an extra in "Jesus Christ: Superstar" (::singing:: What's the buzz? Tell me what's a-happenin'.. LOL). Theater dork!

This year, the moment I saw the results, I was like, "Ms. Mooch you look like Irene Cara in 'Sparke'!!!!"

::singing:: If you look into your heart... with a positive mind. Take self-inventory... your woman and your glory... but the bad things behind...." LOL

I know my hair is not going to last a while, as the moment I go for walk #1 today, it will be O-VAH! To be honest, the frizz made it presence known hours later! LOL But it was fun in the process, and I love sharing my hair stories with you all!

This weekend I'm planning on giving Ms. Mooch a well deserved treat of deep conditioning with Anita Grant's Rhassoul Deep Condish. I will also be shampooing with Bumble and Bumble's Creme de Coco Shampoo and I will be doing a pre-poo with Karen's Body Beautiful Secret Weapon Restorative Hair Treatment (Yeah, I raked up during that sale!!), both for the first time, so be sure to check out my blog next week to see how Ms. Mooch liked them both!

D-I-Y Nappturaliciously: My First Rollerset!!!

Spring is here in NYC, and I have been in a bit of a rut when it comes to my hair. I was super duper tired of my usual braid outs and sucked up a bit of courage to tackle my very first rollerset.

Going into this, I was very very nervous about using heat on my hair again (I haven't done that in ages, which I attribute to my hairs improving health.) so I decided to do some research on technique, product suggestions, the whole nine... which meant a lot of YouTube time! One of the best videos I discovered is from Trenellm's You Tube Channel and her great 40s inspired rollerset!

The genius part of my plan was that I did it Friday night, after working all day, and after first putting away a mountain of clean laundry.... I am so smart, s-m-r-t, I mean s-m-a-r-t!! LOL Suffice to say I was tired as holy hell when I was done!


From Top Left: Diane Magnetic Hair Rollers, Diane Magnetic Snap-On Rollers (Get the snap-on, they work better!), Creme of Nature Argan Oil Foaming Wrap Lotion, Dabur Vatika Hair Oil, Remington Wet2Straight Flat Iron, Gold N Hot Ionic Soft Jumbo Bonnet Dryer, CD's Healthy Hair Butter, Got2B Guardian Angel 425F Heat Protect Flat Iron Balm... all of which is available at the *NEW* Miss Moon's Musings Shop (Powered by Amazon.com), which you can visit by clicking here - All of the items (and more) can be found in the D-I-Y Nappturaliciously Tab.

After doing my usual wash, condition, deep conditioning and detangling, I separate my hair into four sections and first applied a liberal amount of Vatika Oil and HHB to my hair. I then added the Foaming Wrap Lotion and applied the curler, taking my time to make sure that my hair was wrapped in the curler as best I could with spaghetti arms from hanging up clothes! LOL

I discovered that the Snap-on Rollers work a lot better, and regret buying less of those. Around 1:30 AM (!!!) I was done...




You can see the difference between the snap-on rollers and the ones I clipped to my head. You have to have arms of steel to get them tight. LOL


I think I have the "Jilly from Philly" seal of approval, don't you think?!?

I joyously returned to my bed, where my Gold N Hot Ionic Soft Jumbo Bonnet Dryer was prepped and waiting for me.


I was amazed that I was able to fit all of the rollers under the bonnet without any strain...
My intention was to leave the dryer on my head for about an hour and a half, but fatigue took hold of me and I promptly fell asleep!

I woke up around 4:30 in the morning, burning up from the dryer. I turned it off, and too tired to look for my satin cap, I opted to keep the bonnet on and went right back to sleep (No shame in my game, y'all.. Mama was tiyaaaaaad!!!! lol).

About an hour later, I woke up again, because the rollers were super uncomfortable, and I couldn't take much of it anymore. So I stumbled into the bathroom to take them out. I didn't get a chance to snap a photo of the de-curling.... well, because it was around 5:30 A.M.!!! LOL

I pinned my hair up as best as I could, covered it with my satin cap and I took myself right back to bed.

When I woke up later that morning (Okay, it was 1 in the afternoon)after showering I decided to finish my hair. I am so afraid of heat damage, so I was not looking forward to flat ironing at all.

I first made sure to apply a bit more Vatika oil to my hair, just because I know my hair loves it, and separated my hair in 8-10 sections. I then sprayed each section of hair with Got2B Guardian Angel 425F Heat Protect Flat Iron Balm and applied the flat iron (I decided to use one of the lowest settings, which actually did a great job!). I didn't experience too much of that "frying bacon" sound, which was my fear, and when I finished here were the results:


For the most part my hair seems to be cool with the change, though a few sections were totally "No she didn't!!!!" on me! LOL


The initial responses from my family were varied. I got a "Well, I'll be damned..." (From Mizz Lennid aka Mum), A Shocked Open Mouth Stare (From Big Sis), and a couple of dirty propositions from my honey. He said he liked seeing my hair different, but he did express a preference for my curls!! I told him, "Good.. because the curls are my preference, too!")

What's my response?


I like it... not crazy over the moon about it (It's still too new), but I think I did a fairly decent job for a first try. I plan on pampering my hair when the week is up by deep conditioning with a couple of Anita Grant's Rhassoul Deep Condish Hearts, and then two-strand twisting my hair, which I will leave in for a week.

Have you experimented with rollersets and/or flat-ironing? What are your favorite tips and techniques?