From My Vanity

Beauty, Skincare, and a bit of Lifestyle

Get a Faux “Side Shave” Look with this Braided Tutorial (Hairstyle Tutorial)

17 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a hairstyling tutorial with you all. Have you missed them? Well, today’s your day, because I’ve teamed up with Toni&Guy (through Birchbox) and Kiss (through Brandbackers) to bring you another easy hairstyle that incorporates both curls and braids (You know those are the hairstyles I LOVE!).

addwigs uk

At the end I will also give you a short review on the products from both these companies. So let’s jump right in and have some fun!

Be forewarned, this post is very picture heavy. 🙂

Quick Side Braid & Curls Tutorial

Step 1: Brush Hair & Protect

It can be a nightmare if you try to curling your hair when you have knots. Always be sure to thoroughly brush through your hair before you begin. Also, since you’ll be using heat on your hair, make sure you use some type of hair protector so you don’t burn the ends of your hair. (That’s never fun!)


Step 2: Part Your Hair to the Side

Part your hair to the side. If you normally do a side part, I would recommend parting it a little deeper than usual. This will  giving you a more edgy, faux side shave look once we’re done. 🙂

Step 3: Apply Some Hair Wax

This is mainly to keep all those fine, baby hairs that are around your hairline from sticking up and giving your braid a ‘fuzzy’ look. (They drive me crazy!) The Toni & Guy’s Stick It Up Gum works perfectly for this.

Not only did it keep my fine hairs smoothed over, but it also gave my hair wigs a glossy finish. 🙂

Step 4: Dutch Braid till Past your Ear

short bob style wigs

If you don’t know what dutch braiding is, it’s exactly like french braid — except that instead of braiding the strands over each other, you braid them under each other. If you still are not sure what dutch braiding is, head over to Youtube and check out Kayley Melissa’s tutorial on how to do a dutch braid.

Once you know, all you’re going to do is dutch braid until just past your ear. Once you reach it, do a regular braid once or twice and now you’re ready for the next step. 🙂

Step 5: Secure with Bobby Pins

Use however many bobby pins you need to secure the braid at the back of your head. Make sure that you are pinning the braid underneath your hair, so that it will cover the bobby pins and make your braid look like it just disappears into your hair.

Step 6: Spray Braid with Hairspray

At this point I sprayed my braid with Toni&Guy Medium Hold Hairspray to keep it secure.

I didn’t want to go in with too strong a spray, just in case I needed to change things up. Always save the strong hairspray until you’re completely done and satisfied with your look.

Step 7: Curl Remaining Hair

Now comes the fun part! I got out my new InstaWave from Kiss. I’ve seen a few reviews on YouTube for it, and they were all very favorable, so my hopes were high. I set my wand on the ‘high’ setting, as my hair is usually very difficult to curl. Of course, if you don’t own this curling iron, then use whichever one you have available. 🙂

It took a few tries to figure it out, (You should have seen my puzzled look!) but once I did, I had a beautiful curl! And I like the fact that the wand wraps the hair around for you, so there’s less for your hands to do. 🙂 It also gives you a very natural, relaxed wave that I really liked.

Step 8: After Curling a Section, use a Texturizing Spray

This is a step that I like to include, because my hair can be very stubborn. After I’ve curled a section of hair, I give it a light misting of Toni&Guy’s Sea Salt Texturizing Spray and scrunch it up just a bit.

I’ve been doing this step for the past year or so, and have noticed a BIG difference in how much longer my curls last because of it. If you have easy-to-curl hair, than feel free to omit this step. 🙂

Step 9: Finish your Hairstyle with Hairspray

Once I finished curling all the sections of hair, I grabbed the Toni&Guy’s Strong Hold Hairspray and gave the curls — and my braid — a good misting to set the hairstyle.

And that’s all there is to your hairstyle! You’re all set — and looking fabulous! 😉

~  FINAL RESULTS  ~

My Thoughts on the Toni&Guy Hair Products

Toni&Guy sent me several products from four of their lines: Classic, Casual, Creative, and Glamour. I was really thrilled that I found a hairstyle that would incorporate a product from each of the lines. That way I would get a really good feel for the brand as a whole. I loved how they color-coordinated the products with their different lines. 🙂

I love how all of the products smell! If you’re like me, how my hair products smell is an important factor when I’m shopping for hair supplies. All the products have a slightly sweet fragrance. Not too strong, though, which is also nice. (I don’t want to knock people out when I walk by!)

Toni&Guy is a high-end brand in the hair product world, so I was pleased to find that all the products feel luxurious and work better than the drugstore brands that I’ve tried in the past. This is a really important fact for me — I’m not just going to pay more money for the name, I want the product to be worth the price. And these are!

I think out of all the products, I loved the hairsprays the most. I hate buying drugstore firm hold hairsprays, because I just feel like it’s spitting glue into my hair. My hair feels gross and looks like it would snap off if I tried to bend the strands. But with Toni&Guy’s hairspray, it gave me a firm hold on my hairstyle, without the “cement” feel.

The texturizing spray, also, was exceptional. The nozzle just gives you a light misting and it isn’t as sticky as some of the sprays I’ve used in the pass. It does give your curls that slightly crunchy feel, but not overly crunch. Just enough to really grab onto the curls and help them hold throughout the day. This product would work well if you wanted to spruce up your curls partway through the day.

All in all, while you are going to pay a few more dollars than the regular drugstore hair products, they’re definitely worth it! The products won’t leave your hair feeling gross the next day (big plus!). Toni&Guy feels and smells luxurious and the results I get with their products outshine the other hairstyling products I currently have underneath my bathroom sink. Definitely worth the splurge!

My Thoughts on the Kiss InstaWave

After curling my whole head with this wand, I’ve been able to form a pretty definite opinion on this curling wand. Before I forget, it retails for $59.99 — which isn’t a bad or outrageous price for a hair tool, in my opinion.

I will admit it took my several tries before I finally figured out how to work it without getting my hair all tangled on the prongs. (Now, this might just be because I can be a bit clumsy at times!) After reading the directions carefully and doing several trial runs with the wand turned off, I finally figured it out. Once I got the hang of it, curling my hair went really quickly.

The Kiss InstaWave does make curling your hair easier, in my opinion. Not having to use both my hands to hold it in place really makes a difference. And while this tool isn’t super-light, I didn’t notice my arms getting tired at all. I also like to think that, since the hair is sitting lightly wrapped around the wand, it isn’t as damaging. 🙂

Because this curling iron has the prongs that help to keep the hair around the wand, it does also cause the hair around it to get caught up if you’re not careful. If you’re going to use this wand, you will definitely need to make sure you section off your hair and keep the hair separate from your curls. And even then, if I tried to rest the wand too close to my hair while twirling it, the curls I’d already done would start to get caught up around the wand! So, depending on the individual, this might be a con. For me, personally, I don’t mind it. I just have to keep it in mind when clicking the button to twirl it.

One thing that I considered a negative aspect of this wand is that it is very hard to get a close curl when doing the sections at the back of my head. Because you can’t see it (or maybe because I’m not very flexible) I found it impossible to get the wand close to my head and curl the strand without the prongs getting all caught up in my hair. So for me, I just brought the hair around my shoulder and curled it as far up the strand as I could go.

All in all, while this curling wand does have a few cons, I found that I really loved the curls that I was able to get with the Kiss InstaWave. They held up beautifully all day and still had a lot of curl left the next day. As I mentioned, I loved that the curl it gave was very loose and effortless. I don’t like ringlets when I curl my hair, but neither do I like fallen waves. This curling iron gave me the perfect curls. I think it will really come down to your own personal preference as to whether or not you will like this curling iron. If you love trying new and different hair tools, then you’re going to love this!

Y’all made it to the end! Bravo! I hope this post wasn’t too long winded. There was so much information to share with you all. 🙂

Question for My Readers: What do you think of the InstaWave? Do you like trying new curling wands? Or do you just like your tried-and-true curling iron? 🙂

I received one or more of the products mentioned above from either Brandbacker or Birchbox. I only share information that I
think will be useful for my readers and I only recommend products I have personally used. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

The (Much Anticipated) FINAL ‘Hairstyling with NuMe’ Tutorial!

23 Comments

Yes! It’s finally here! I am so sorry that this post took over a month after my marriage, but…I won’t bore you with excuses. I promise you, though, I’ve been keeping super busy moving into our new home and settling on the other side of the United States with my new hubby. 😀

There’s going to be a lot of information in this post, so let’s just get right in with the final ‘Hairstyling with NuMe’ post!

Wedding Hairstyle Tutorial

First off, before we get into the fun information, let’s talk about my wedding hair. As those of you who’ve been following my blog for a while know, I styled my own hair for my wedding using the NuMe Titan3 curling wand set. And it turned out FABULOUS! So here’s how I did it. 🙂

Step 1: Curl!

As always, I like to start with curling my hair so that I have a lot of body in my style when I pin my hair up. 🙂 I used the smallest barrel out of the Titan3 set and it worked wonders at giving my awesome, long-lasting curls!

Step 2: Braid the Right Side & Pin

Okay, so what I wanted to do was combine both braids and twists into this curly hairstyle. So I decided to do a french braid starting near the front, right hairline and adding hair all the way back until I got just past my ear. From there, I just continued with a regular braid until I was almost at the end.

Then I laid my braid back against my hair and pinned it in place. I made sure to taper of the braid just before I got to the left side. Don’t worry about securing the braid with a pin — just leave it loose. We will cover the braid over with a curl in the next steps so it all looks very seamless. 🙂

Step 3: Twist Back the Left Side & Pin

Okay, so for the left side, I took the chunk of hair from my front hairline back to my ear and twisted it really tightly and distinctly against my head. Nothing special, at all, just try to make the twist really obvious and stand out. Pin it in place as you go.

Continue twisting your hair back until you overlap the braid that you pinned in the back. I twisted it till I reached about the middle of my head, then continue to place pins wherever I felt it needed more support.

Step 4: Tie on Your Pearls

Okay, so first off, let me explain how I made these. They are nothing pretty, and you could probably find them online already made for you, but since I had an old pearl headband that was falling apart…I decided to save the pennies and make them. All I did was use black string to tie the pearls onto a small elastic black band (like the kinda you can get at Sally’s Beauty Supply). Prest-o — you’re very own pearl ties. 🙂

Now is when you can let your creativity show! Just start tying those pearls sporadically throughout the hairstyle. My mother’s wedding dress had pearls on the front, and I really wanted my hairstyle to look like it had sprinkles of pearls throughout — almost like pearls were just magically floating. 😀

 

Step 5: Add Random Braids

I wanted more braids in the hairstyle, so what I did was randomly go around my head and add really small, thin braids. I secure these (of course) with the pearl elastic rubber bands and twisted them around the curling wand for a few seconds so that the braids blend easily into the curls.

Add as many or as few as you want — I think I did about 5 or 6. Whatever you’re feeling and however obvious you want it to be. Just make it our own!

AND YOUR DONE!

And you’re done! This is how it looks!!!!

Also, something I added right before the wedding, was to buy some pins that had pearls on the end and I slide them into my hairstyle along the twist and braid. So it kind of gave me a pearly crown on my wedding day, as you can see from this picture below 🙂

I hope y’all enjoyed this tutorial. And when I do my post on my wedding, I’ll be sure to add more pictures of my hair. NuMe’s Titan3 did an OUTSTANDING job at keeping my curls fresh. I did my hair at 10 o’clock Saturday morning, and at 8 PM — when we finally headed to the honeymoon — they all still looked awesome. The picture you see of me above was at least 6 hours from when I originally curled them — and they look awesome! I didn’t need to re-curl any strands at all throughout the day. Loved it!

Curl Jam Giveaway Winner

I know it’s been FOREVER since the giveaway ended, but I am FINALLY announcing the winner! As usual, I always use Rafflecopter to select a random winner — and I went through and made sure all the entries were legit. 😉 Aaannnnnnnddddddddd…..

……….the winner is………… ……….drum roll…………

*****     LORI BUTLER     *****

Congratulations! This lady tweeted a BUNCH over the course of the giveaway — wowza! As always, I’ve already emailed the winner and am waiting to hear back. So, if you’re Lori and reading this…check your email!! 😀

Sad you didn’t win?? Well, guess what — I have ANOTHER NuMe giveaway for you all! Yes, that’s right — another chance to win!!! Many, many thanks to NuMe Products for their continued generosity.

 

What’s the Mega Star? Well, it’s NuMe’s best and most popular flat iron! I personally own it and LOVE it! Trust me — whoever win’s this is going to LOVE it, too! It leaves your hair feeling sooooo good!

The Rules: This giveaway is only open to GFC follower of Legacy of a Writer, so be sure you are a follower! (And with the giveaway being this big a prize, make sure your picture is in my little GFC box — because I do check! 🙂 This giveaway will run for one month, ending on Sunday July 6th, at midnight.

This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY — except for the countries NuMe does not currently ship to, which are: Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Colombia, New Zealand, Portugal, Morocco, Romania, Spain.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

By the way, if you have been wanting to purchase a NuMe curling wand and were bummed that you didn’t win the Curl Jam, NuMe has a fantastic sale that you should totally take advantage of! If you use the code “71CLASSIC” when you check out, you can get any one of their classic curling wands for 71% off! That is an AWESOME deal, let me tell you!

If you do buy one of the NuMe tools, please let me know in the comments below! I love hearing from my readers!! 😀

Hairstyling with NuMe – Fancy Updo!

6 Comments

Just as an update, I don’t know if I will be able to get the last post up on Wednesday, but we’ll see. 🙂 If you don’t see it then, keep an eye on my blog — it’ll come eventually! Promise!! 😉

 Here’s a peak at what we are creating in today’s tutorial. Let’s dive right in. 🙂

Step 1: Curl Your Hair

This hairstyle can be started either with your natural wave or curled hair. Because my sister has such thick, straight hair, I wanted to start with some texture in the hair, so I curled everything with the medium-sized barrel from the Titan3 set, knowing and expecting to redo the curls with a smaller barrel once I finished. But if you have natural curly hair or hair that has a good wave to it, than feel free to just start with that. 🙂

Step 2: Section the Hair Off

Once you have the top section of your hair separated and pinned up, take a 1 inch section of hair near the front hairline. This is where your french braid is going to begin. 🙂

Step 3: Begin French Braiding

Now that you’ve sectioned off the top section from the bottom, you’re going to french braid all the way around the back of the head, with the bottom section.

Step 4: Secure the Braid

Once you reach the other side of the head with your braid, secure it with an elastic tie and pins, if needed.

Step 5: Section off Bangs

Now that the braid is secure, take down the top section and clip away the front hair line (or if you have bangs, clip those away).

Step 6: Smooth and Twist Top Section

Smooth out any bumps across the crown of your head and begin twisting it slightly right above where you tied the braid. Situate it so that you are hiding the elastic band. Secure with as many pins as you want or need. (I recommend these pins from Sally’s Beauty Supply. They’re really strong and work well. 🙂

Step 7: Twist Bangs Back and Pin

Now take whatever hair that was clipped out of the way (your bangs, or if you don’t have bangs, drape the hair back so that it gives you the look of bangs) and pin it back. I twisted the hair slightly as I drew it back and pinned, but however you’d like to do this, that’s up to you. Make this hairstyle your own!

Step 8: Decorate!

I always use my Lilla Rose hair accessories when I do a hairstyle, and for this one I used the hair pins. But decorate and accessorize any way you wish. 🙂

FINISHED!

And this is how the hairstyle looks!!! 😀 Hope y’all give it a try!!

Remember — don’t forget to enter the NuMe giveaway for the Curling Jam set that’s over on the original Hairstyling with NuMe post. This set is $280, so don’t miss your chance to win this all for FREE!! 😀

Question to my Readers: If you try this hairstyle out — or plan to sometime soon — let me know! I was really excited to discover this quick and easy bun and I thought you all would be, too. 🙂

Hairstyling with NuMe – Easy Braided Bun!

8 Comments

I can’t believe that we’re almost to the end of the Hairstyling with NuMe series! Next week, on Friday, I will be posting one more hairstyle before my wedding. I hope to bring you my wedding hairstyle the Wednesday following my wedding, but we’ll just have to see if I have time to prepare my post before the wedding. On that final post I will share the tutorial for my wedding hairstyle that I did, as well as announcing the winner for the NuMe Curling Jam set that I’m giving away on my original Hairstyling with NuMe post. 🙂 So be on the lookout for that! 🙂

Today’s hairstyling tutorial is a quick braided bun that would be perfect for an elegant night out or your prom. 🙂

Doesn’t it look beautiful? And it’s easy to do, too! Let’s jump in!


Start with Your Natural Hair Texture

Step 1: Tie Your Hair into a Pony Tail

My sister has really thick hair, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. But this hairstyle should work well, no matter your hair density. Start by combing your hair back into a sleek ponytail directly at the center of the back of your head. If you have bangs, feel free to leave this out.

Step 2: Start Braiding, Leaving Out Sections of Hair As You Go

This part can seem a bit confusing and tricky, but it’s really not. Start braiding, and each time you cross a strand over, take a small section of hair out and let it hang free. I hope the picture above and below that I’ve created will help you understand how to do this. 🙂

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 Till You Reach the End

Continue braiding, leaving out strands of hair as you go. Once you reach the last two or three inches, don’t leave out strands — just braid as normal and tie it off with a small hair tie the same color as your hair (if possible).

Step 4: Create a Bun

Now that you have a braid, begin wrapping it around your original pony tail, as shown above. Take as many pins as you need and secure the bun as you continue to wrap it around. Tuck the tail end of your braid under the bun, so you can’t see the hair tie at the end.

Step 5: Curl the Strands of Hair that’s Left Out

Now that you have your bun, take your NuMe curling wand — whatever size you prefer, but I chose the smallest one — and curl all the strands of hair that’s hanging out of the bun. Don’t worry if it looks lopsided (like my model’s hair does :-), that will be corrected in the next step.

Step 6: Pin Up Curls Around the Braided Bun

Now’s the time to let your creativity go to work! 🙂 Begin taking the curls and pin them up around the bun, however looks best to you. For me, because one side had more hair than the other, I took the longer curls and pinned them toward the other side, to even out the hairstyle. You really can’t do this part wrong — just start pinning up one curl at a time, filling in any holes, and it’ll all come together. 🙂

I added two Lilla Rose You-Pins to the hairstyle, just to give it a little sparkle, and I was done. 🙂 This hairstyle was really easy to do — took me less than 30 minutes to do this hairstyle (and only that long because her hair is SO thick and she has so much of it! :-). It’s really quick and easy, but looks really complex. I love it!

Final Results!

Remember — don’t forget to enter the NuMe giveaway for the Curling Jam set that’s over on the original Hairstyling with NuMe post. This set is $280, so don’t miss your chance to win this all for FREE!! 😀

Question to my Readers: If you try this hairstyle out — or plan to sometime soon — let me know! I was really excited to discover this quick and easy bun and I thought you all would be, too. 🙂

Hairstyling with NuMe – Easy Curly Updo!

5 Comments

Let’s dive right into today’s hairstyle.

This is something I kind of created on my own, so there’s no real name for it. I just like the look and enjoyed doing my own little touches to it. 🙂

Step 1: Curl Your Hair!


Just like we always do, begin your hairstyle by curling your hair. If you would like a step-by-step tutorial, click here — it’s my first hairstyling post where I give a step-by-step tutorial of how I curl hair. 🙂 Make sure you always use a heat protector (I recommend the Not Your Mother’s Beat the Heat Thermal Styling Spray) on your hair before beginning to curl — don’t want to damage your hair!

Step 2: Take a Section at the front and Braid it

Take a 1 inch section near the front of your head (I do on the right side, but if you prefer it on your left, feel free to do so). If you have bangs, or like having hair frame your face, leave them out.

Begin french braiding your hair, only incorporating hair within that 1 inch section, and work your way down toward your ear. Keep your braid loose — it gives the hairstyle a very elegant look. If you have trouble with flyaways, use a paste to smooth them down.

Once you reach right above your ear, finish off with a regular braid and secure it with a small elastic band.

Step 3: Give Yourself a Bump at Your Crown

If you like to have a bit of volume in your crown, tease the hair right at your crown just a little bit. Or if you like a lot of volume, go to town with the teasing. 🙂 Basically tease it however much you like. 🙂

Step 4: Twist Hair at the Crown and Pin

Lightly smooth over the tease so you get a very smooth finish. Then gather the hair at the back of your head, right below the crown of your head, and twist it once or twice. Just to help your bump stay up and give your hairstyle visual appeal. 🙂 Once you like how the hairstyle looks, pin in place. I used two pins, crisscrossing them so that they were secure. Feel free to use as many as you like, but if possible keep that hidden. Then it looks like your hair is magically staying in place by itself 😉

Step 5: Pin the Braid Back Against the Twist

If you left your bangs out, twist them lightly around the braid you made on the right side. Play around with it until you like how it looks.

Once you like how it looks, pin the braid against the twist you made in the back of your head.

Step 6: Pin the Hair on the Left Side Back

Now take the hair on your left side, near your hairline, and twist it back loosely before pinning it against the twist right below the crown of your head. Make sure the hairstyle is secure and add any pins to areas that feel loose or insecure.

Step 7: Accessorize!

I always like to add something to a hairstyle, so of course I added a Lilla Rose clip that has beautiful dangles that totally completes this elegant curly updo.

All done!

That’s it! All there is to this hairstyle — it’s really quick and easy, but looks rather complex. I was thrilled to see how well this turned out, and plan to do it to myself something in the very near future. 😀

Don’t Forget! The giveaway NuMe is sponsoring on From My Vanity is still going on! There’s still time to get in your entries for a chance to win a Curl Jam Set. 

 Click this link to find out how to enter!

Question for My Readers: How much time do you usually get to do your hair when you’re going to a special event? 15 minutes? An hour? 🙂

Hairstyling with NuMe – Boho Braids with Curls!

5 Comments

It’s Friday again and time for another Hairstyling with NuMe post! 🙂 For those who follow me on Instagram, you know I had an all-day hair styling session with my family and was able to take pictures of the rest of the hairstyles for this series. 🙂 I can’t wait to share them with you, as I was really pleased with how they all turned out. Stay tuned in the coming weeks. 🙂

Oh, before we dive into today’s tutorial (pictured above! ;-), I just wanted to let you know about an amazing deal that NuMe has going on right now. Right now, you can purchase one of their Classic Curling Wands for only $79, and get a second wand for FREE!

These wands normally sell for $169, but if you use this link, put two wands in your shopping cart and enter the coupon code “BOGOCLASS” at checkout, the total will come to only $79! That’s a savings of over $250!

This is a really awesome deal to take advantage of, especially if you’ve been wanting to try a NuMe curling wand out — that’s like getting each wand for $45, which is a crazy-amazing deal! I don’t know how long this coupon code will be valid, so if you’ve been thinking of getting one…don’t delay! 🙂 Okay, let’s get into the tutorial. 🙂

Step 1: Curl Your Hair



Curl your hair with a curling wand (I used the middle barrel in NuMe’s Titan3 curling set). If you want a detailed tutorial on how to do this, check out my first tutorial in this series where I show you step-by-step. 🙂

Step 2: Take a 1 inch Section

Grab a section of hair near the front hairline. It doesn’t have to be exact or perfectly 1 square inch — this hairstyle is supposed to be really loose, natural, and effortless-looking.

Step 3: Braid the Section

Braid that section of hair, angling the strand backwards toward the back of the hair (so there are no weird ‘bubbles’ later when you pull the braids back). Keep the braid loose — you don’t want them to be tight, tiny, and rigid. Secure the ends with a small tie or bobby pin (this is only a temporary hold).

Step 4: Take Another 1 inch Section

Now take another section of hair — about the same size as the braid you just did. I took a section below and a little behind my first braid. Keep in mind the end results you are looking for when you are doing this hairstyle — it will help make sure everything looks right when you pull it all backwards.

Step 5: Braid that Section

Now braid that section back, just like with the braid before (step 3). If you like variety in your braids, then feel free to take a smaller or larger section so that the braids vary in size for the end results. Secure the ends of the braid with a tie or bobby pin.

Step 6: Do One More Braid

glueless full lace wigs

Same as we’ve been doing, do one more braid on the left side. You should have three strands now, and you’re done with this side. If you want more braids, please feel free to do more! It’s really whatever your preference is. 🙂

Step 6: Repeat the Previous Steps on Right Side

Now just repeat the step’s we’ve done on the left side, on the right side. I did four braids, since my sister has a side part, and more hair is on her right side. As I said already, you can do more or less — whatever you like. 🙂

Step 7: Weave Braids Together

Now that you have all the strands braided, weave them together. There’s no particular way to do this — just however you’d like. Use a clip to keep all the strands together and do the same on the other side.

Step 8: Join All the Braids Together

Now take the two sections of braids and join them together at the back of the head, directly in the center. Use a small elastic tie the same color as your hair to secure them all.

Step 9: Decorate!

Embellish the style with anything you’d like. I used a Lilla Rose mini clip to go over the black hair tie. It really helps beautify the hairstyle even more — like jewelry. 🙂

And you’re done! That’s all there is to this hairstyle — very easy to do and would look great on curly or straight hair. It’s a quick hairstyle, too, especially if you just use your natural wave pattern. The braiding took less than ten minutes for me, and then I just draped it all toward the back and secured it.

Don’t Forget! The giveaway NuMe is sponsoring on From My Vanity is still going on! There’s still time to get in your entries for a chance to win a Curl Jam Set.

Question for My Readers: Which is your preference when it comes to hair — straight, wavy, or curly? I’d love to know. 🙂

Hairstyling with NuMe – My Review of Titan3

14 Comments

It’s Friday, and you know what that means, right?

Another new addition to the Hairstyling with NuMe series! 😀 for those who’ve been keeping up, we’ve learned how to do curls, twisted updos, and waterfall braids using the NuMe Titan3 Curling Wands. Check out the links below if you need to catch up…

 

For today, I’m actually going to take a quick break from the tutorial’s to bring you my review of NuMe’s Titan3 curling wand set. I’ve been able to use it a lot over the past several weeks, and I feel like I have accurate and honest feedback to give on this set now. (Don’t worry, I will resume next week with another hair tutorial 🙂

So let’s dive in, shall we? 🙂


My Review…

First Impressions… 
The NuMe Titan3 curling wands arrived packaged up very securely — definitely didn’t need to worry about anything getting scratched or broken on the way to my house. 🙂 Along with putting the wands inside of a heavy-duty, sturdy round box, they’re also all kept separate with foam dividers that gives each barrel and the base a place to sit without touching each other. I was impressed with the care NuMe took to package up their items, and loved the quality of the round box it came in — I put it in my closet to use to transport my wands when I move next month. 🙂

Packaging/Quality…
Everything about the Nume Titan3 curling wand just screams professionalism and high quality. The feel of the base is really neat — it’s almost soft… It’s really hard to describe! But it’s certainly not the usual finish and feel of a curling wand. It feels very luxurious. 🙂 The barrels are well made and, because they’re made with titanium, they’re really light. And I mean really light! Which is wonderful, as my arms easily and quickly tire out when holding a heavy item above my head for any length of time.

The cord is really thick and feels really strong and sturdy. The barrel of this wand is able to rotate all the way around, which is really nice when I’m using it — I never have to worry about the cord getting all twisted up on itself (which is often the problem I have with my regular curling iron). I’ve used it several times and have noticed the fact that I don’t have to sit and untwist the cord halfway through my curling, like I usually have to do. Definitely a plus, in my book!

Performance…
Once you know which of the three barrel you want to use, all you have to do is line up the holes and snap the barrel into place. It’s pretty easy and very quick to do. Then you turn it on, select your temperature setting, and give it about 10 or so seconds to heat up. That is seriously all it takes to heat up! I love that this can get hot so quickly. I can be pretty impatient at times, and too often I forget to plug in my curling iron ahead of time and then I end up waiting on the barrel to heat up before I can start. But with NuMe’s Titan3 Curling Wand, I can start curling almost the moment after turning it on. It’s wonderful!

It takes a little while to cool down, but when I compared it to my regular curling iron that I own, the Titan3 does cool down more quickly. Pretty sweet! One particular day I curled my hair with both the smallest and medium sized curling wands (to give a variety of curl sizes) and it actually wasn’t too bad, switching between wands. I had to give it a minute or two to cool down, but during this time I was able to section off the next part, so it wasn’t time wasted. And since I had the glove that NuMe includes with all their curling wands, I was actually able to get a pretty good hold on the wands when I went to take it off, even though it was still slightly warm.

Major Dislikes…

When I go to take a barrel off of the base, I often have a few moments of struggle as I try to click the two buttons on either side of the base and pull on the barrel. I’m not sure why I have so much trouble (maybe I need to work out? lol!), but it often takes me several tries to get both buttons pressed down sufficiently at the same time in order to be able to pull the barrel off of the base. I’ve watched several YouTuber’s use this set and haven’t seen them have trouble, so I don’t know if I’m just really weak, or this is a flux in this particular wand. But I just wanted you to be mindful of this fact — it really isn’t too big a deal, since I can just get one of my brothers or my dad to help pull it apart, if I needed to (though I haven’t yet. I’ve been able to pull them apart on my own, after a few tries).

Major Likes…

A lot of things! I love the feel of the wand. It’s so smooth, almost velvety, feeling. It makes me feel really professional and like I am pampering my hair when I use it. 🙂 I’ve also noticed my hair looks shiner once I finish curling (often, after using a normal curling iron, my hair looks dull and dry), so that’s an awesome plus to this wand that I really appreciate!

The fact that it heats up fast is a wonderful bonus! I’ve already explained my reason why I love this aspect of it, so I won’t repeat myself. 🙂 Another thing that I like about this set is that it’s so incredibly light — lighter than any other curling wand or iron I’ve tried before in the past. My arm still can get tired from holding it above my head, but it would get tired even if I was holding nothing, right. But the fact that it doesn’t start hurting right away (like it would before) is really nice. Saves my arms that awful ache!

Final Thoughts…

I really love my NuMe Titan3 curling wand set! Ever since I got this in, I don’t reach for anything else when I go to curl my hair. Even if I just want a bit of wave to my hair, all I have to do is grab the largest barrel and in a few minutes — bam! I have waves! It’s so easy and I love the versatility of this wand being interchangeable. It’s so nice not to have to have 3 different curling irons sitting around my room taking up space and getting their cords all tangled up together. The Titan3 is able to be broken down to shorter sections that are really easy to slip into a drawer and be put out of sight.

I can’t say enough good things about this wand! I’m really looking forward to experiencing the long-term benefits of using NuMe’s products! As some of you know, I purchased the NuMe MegaStar Flat Iron a few weeks ago. While I haven’t gotten a ton of use out of it yet, I have used it several times and love how my hair looks afterwards. I will be doing a detailed review of that tool soon, hopefully, so be on the lookout. 🙂

If you’ve been on the lookout for a good curling wand set or just need a new set to replace your old ones, I would highly recommend you getting the Titan3 set! Or if you want more variety with your curls, the NuMe Lustrum curling set comes with 5 different wands, making the possibilities almost endless! NuMe’s heat tools are an investment, but totally worth the money you put into it! And these tools will last you a long time if you take care of them. And — above all — it helps your hair stay healthier! Which, when you think about it, is a priceless quality to these tools.

I received this curling wand set from NuMe in order to review. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this product, which I have done. I only recommend products and/or services that I have personally used or experienced and like.

 

* * *    I mentioned purchasing the NuMe Lustrum Curling Set in my review above. I just wanted to let you know that if you are considering purchasing this tool (which I highly recommend! :-), make sure you use the code “FIVECURL” when you check out to get 61% off your order! ‘Cause who doesn’t like to save money, right?!    * * *

Question to My Readers: Are you on the lookout for a new curling iron? Are you the type to invest in good-quality tools?