From My Vanity

Beauty, Skincare, and a bit of Lifestyle

Hairstyling with NuMe – Waterfall Braid!

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I hope everyone is enjoying the “Hairstyling with NuMe” series so far! Today we have another fun hairstyle tutorial — the waterfall braid! 🙂 It’s been a lot of fun to do these hairstyles on myself and my siblings, and the NuMe Titan3 Curling Wand Set has made creating curls so easy and effortless! And they stay so well, too! For those who follow me on Instagram, you saw the picture of my hair for my bridal shower — and those curls looked great all night. 🙂

Don’t Forget! NuMe is having a sale for their MegaStar flat iron (their most popular flat iron and the one I bought recently. I LOVE it!!). If you use the coupon code “MEGASPRING” when you check out, you can get this amazing flat iron for only $79! That’s a saving of $120, which is awesome! I highly recommend this flat iron — it’s really important to invest in a good flat iron and this one is definitely worth the money!

Okay, let’s dive right into today’s hairstyle — which is curls with a waterfall braid!

Step 1: Curl

Curl your hair, however works best for you. I’m using the NuMe Titan3 Curling Wand set with the middle sized barrel. For those who have my type of hair (long, thick, heavy, stubborn hair), check out my first post where I show you, step by step, how to curl your hair. 🙂

I used the middle curling wand on my sister, but if I was to do it again, I would use the smallest curling wand. Tight curls look really cute on little girls, in my opinion. 🙂

Step 2: Add hair to the first strand, closest to the top of the head

Take a chunk of hair near your front hairline and split it into 3 sections. Start doing a normal french braid — incorporating a new chunk of hair from the top of the hair.

Step 3: Drop the third strand (farthest from the top of the head) and pick up a new one

When you go to add a new chunk of hair from the third strand (the strand farthest from the top of the head), drop the strand and pick up a new strand from right next to it. This is what will give your braid that ‘waterfall’ effect.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3

Continue to add hair to the first strand, and pick up a new strand every time you go to braid the third strand over.

By the way, I am assuming that everyone knows how to braid and french braid. If you don’t know how, either let me know (so I can consider doing a tutorial on both of those for you) or do a searching on YouTube. A lot of great beauty guru’s do a step-by-step video explaining how to do both a regular braid and a french braid. 🙂

Step 5: When you reach the back of your head, finish with a regular braid

After you’ve braided almost all the way down your strand of hair, use a little black elastic band and tie your braid. This is only a temporary fix, so don’t worry if the tie doesn’t look nice or you didn’t tie it particularly nice — it won’t be on there for long. 🙂

Step 6: Loosen the braids (if desired) and spray it with hairspray

The first part of this step is optional. I like it when a hairstyle has a really loose, effortless look to it, so I just pulled on her braid a tad to make the braid look larger and also give it a soft, natural look. Then a sprayed the braid and the curls with hairspray to help hold the hairstyle (I am using an older version of the Kenra Platinum Finishing Spray 26).

Step 7: Repeat the steps on the other side

Repeat steps 2 to 6 on the other side of your hair. Once your done the two braids should meet in the middle at the back of your head. But go ahead and braid it regularly for a while before tying it off.

Step 8: Gather the two braids together at the back

Pull the two braids together at the back and secure it with some type of clip. I used a Flexi Clip, as it really decorates the hairstyle and is super easy to use, too! (which is a huge plus and something I appreciate!)

Step 9: Remove the hair ties

Remove both ties from the braids and undo the braids up to your clip, so your hair hands free.

And now that the two braids are joined, you can loosen or tighten the braid as much as you like. Because you have some strands of the hair hanging out (the ‘waterfall’ part of the braid), it makes it really easy to either tighten or loosen the braids. So however you like to wear your hair, go for it. 🙂

Step 10: If needed, recurl strands

If you notice that any of your curls have kind of fallen because of running your fingers through it (when you were braiding), just take your curling wand and recurl those areas. It doesn’t take long — just hold it for a few seconds and your curls will be good to go. Don’t touch your curls when you finish until they’ve cooled. Use hairspray once you are done!

AND YOU’RE DONE!!!!

Once all the curls look the way you want them to…you’re finished!

After I finished my sister’s hair, she went and put on her dress-up gown and play high-heels and pretended she was a princess. 🙂 I thought she looked sooooo grown up and pretty with her curly hair!

REMEMBER: NuMe is sponsoring a giveaway on From My Vanity! If you didn’t see my original post where I did a tutorial on curling your hair, make sure you take a look and see how you could win a NuMe Curl Jam set to try out on yourself! (worth over $200!)

 

Question to my Readers: Do you enjoy braiding your hair? Do you like a regular braid, french braid, inverted braid, fishtail braid? Tell me what braid you enjoy doing the most! 🙂

Hairstyling with NuMe – Twisted Half Up-Do

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Good Friday morning, everyone! It’s here — the second installment to my new series, Hairstyling with NuMe! Today I’m going to take curls to the next level with this fun half-up-do type of style. It would be perfect for a night out or even for a prom date!

By the way, my little sisters got so excited when they heard I was doing this series on my blog, and they all eagerly volunteered to be my ‘models’ for this series. So today I’m featuring one of my younger sister’s as my model for this easy — but fancy-looking — hairstyle. 🙂

Step 1: Curl

Since I already did a detailed blog post on how to curl your hair, I’m just going to refer you there to refresh your memory on how I curl my hair. For my sister, I only had to do two sections, since she has finer, thinner hair than I do. 🙂

And, just like last time, I will be using the NuMe Titan3 curling wands to curl her hair — and I’ll be using the medium-sized curling wand. 🙂 Make sure, if you’re interested in purchasing this set, that you use the code “NUMESPRING50” to get 50% off your order and free shipping on the NuMe website! Because who doesn’t like to save some money?! 🙂

Okay, so curls are all done. NuMe’s curling wands curl so well and make your hair super glossy and shiny! You could totally go out of the house like this and look fabulous! But for today, I wanted to show you a really quick and easy way to take it up another notch. 🙂

Step 2: Twist a section back & pin

Take about a 1 or 2 inch section at the front hairline, drape it around the forehead so it looks nice, and twist it lightly against the head before pinning into place. (If you would like tips on how to pin properly so that they’ll stay in for hours, let me know and I’ll be happy to go into detail!)

Step 3: Repeat once more on same side

Just like in the previous step, take the next section (the rest of the hair right around the ear) and twist it back. Take one or two pins and secure it in place. Very easy and quick — if you’re doing it on someone else or if you’re doing it on yourself!

Step 4: Spritz with hairspray

Secure those twists with a good spritz of hairspray both to smooth down any fly aways and to help the style hold up and last longer. (here I am using an older version of Kenra’s Platinum Finishing Spray 26 🙂

Step 5: Switch to the other side. Take a section near the hairline and twist

Now that you’re on the other side, you’re going to do the same steps on this side. Starting with that first section right at the front, take a one or two inch chunk and twist it against the head and pin into place.

Step 6: Repeat steps until you reach the other side

Keep twisting and pinning your hair, taking one section at a time, until you have almost reached where you twisted that side. (I left about a 2 inch gape there). Pin it in place as you go. Once you’re done pinning, check your work and see if you need to reinforce the hairstyle with more pins (it’s okay to use a bunch of pins! 🙂

Step 7: Decorate (if desired)

Now, if you’re me, you’ve gotta add a little something to finish the look off. So I dressed up my sister’s hairstyle with this pretty black flower piece that just clipped right in.

Step 8: Revive any curls if needed

Sometimes as you work in sectioning the hair and twisting pieces back, you can get some curls that go kind of wonky. Simply take your Titan3 wand and re-curl them very quickly.

Step 9: Finish with hairspray!

Take your favorite, strong-hold hairspray and give the whole hairstyle — pinned pieces and curls — a really good spray. That’s all! Presto — your hairstyle is done!

There you go! After you curl your hair, it just takes 5 or 10 extra minutes to get an elegant and easy hairstyle that will really glam up your look! And it will look like you had to spend  a lot longer on it then you really did, which is a big plus. 😉

REMEMBER: NuMe is sponsoring a giveaway on From My Vanity! If you didn’t see last week’s post where I did a tutorial on curling, make sure you go take a look…and check out the end of the post to see how YOU could win a curling set from NuMe! (Worth over $200!!! :-D)

Question to my Readers: Do you like to amp-up your hairstyle with a few quick twists or tucks? Let me know your go-to quick-and-easy ways to take your hair up a notch! 🙂

Hairstyling with NuMe – Curls!

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I’ve been looking forward to today’s post for a while now, and am so excited to finally share the news! I’ve been working with a lady at NuMe Products and we’ve come up with an exciting series that will be featured on my blog every Friday until my wedding at the end of April! The series, as you’ve probably guessed from the title, is going to be called “Hairstyling with NuMe”!

https://www.newhairbuy.com/

I showcased the flat iron I purchased and the curling wands NuMe sent me for this series on Monday. For today’s post I’m going to be using NuMe’s Titan3 curling wand to show you how to curl your hair. I know this is pretty basic, but once you know how to curl with these wands, you’ll be able to spice up your curls very easily. 🙂

The beauty of NuMe’s wands are that they use the latest in digital and titanium technology — and they’re made from 100% titanium. The wand has digital temperature control ranging from 122 – 392 degree’s — which is all you need to curl your hair. The barrel’s use Infrared Heat and Negative Ion technology, ensuring that your hair stays as healthy as possible. With three barrels to choose from and with it’s ergonomic, sleek design, the variety of designs you can do with these curls are endless!

Make sure you stay till the end of the post…there’s a special surprise for you all!

Alright, let’s dive into this tutorial! 🙂 This is my first time doing a tutorial for my blog, so I hope y’all will stay patient with me as I learn the ropes.

Curls with Titan3’s 25mm Wand

For my curls, I chose the medium-sized wand, the 25mm, and snapped it onto the base. The wand heated up very quickly! I seriously only waited about a minute before it was at the targeted temp — which is great for me, as I have a bad habit of not turning on my heating tools until I’m ready to use them…and then I hate sitting around waiting for them to heat up!
So, Step 1: Heat Protectant

I’m currently using the TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Protective Spray. I apply this liberally throughout my hair and then use a brush to make sure I’ve distributed the product throughout my hair evenly. I give my hair a few minutes to let the product soak in and to ensure that my hair isn’t wet when I begin heat styling — that can lead to fried hair!

Step 2: Section Off Your Hair

Magic Ponytail Hair Extensions 

Because I have thick, long hair, I always separate my hair into three sections. The first section I go right above the ears. Then I clip it up with a hairclip (any ol’ clip will work! 🙂 and give the first section of hair another good brush-through. The key to smooth, flawless curls is to make sure your hair is tangle-free and kink-free. These are what causes curls to come out wonky or look frizzy. 🙂

Step 3: Curl a 1″ Strand of Hair

Using the handy glove that NuMe supplies with this curling wand set, I took my first section and wrapped it around the rod. Now, for the pictures, I keep my hands away from the rod (so you could see what I was doing), but I actually like to almost hold the hair around the rod, that way the ends have a nice curl pattern to them as well. This is why the black NuMe glove is so nice — I have a lot more control, being able to touch the barrel without encountering dire consequences. 😉

I’ve already explained why in step 2, but just a reminder — give your hair a comb (I like to use the wet brush) through before doing each curl. It helps!

Okay, so I hold the hair for about 5 seconds, give or take. It really just depends on the thickness of the strand I’m holding. That’s why I like to have my hands on the barrel — when I feel my hair heat up (which, literally, takes less than 5 seconds), I’ll give it a count and then slide it off. If you have easy-to-curl hair, than you probably wouldn’t have to hold it on as long. But for my hair, if I don’t get a good amount of heat to help mold my hair into the desired curl pattern, it will fall within the hour.

Step 4: Cool the Curl in Your Hands

Nothing too fancy here, I just let the curl sit in my hand for 5 or 10 seconds before releasing it. If you have thin or fine hair, you could probably skip this step. But if you have thick hair or hard-to-curl hair, letting the curl cool all wound up will lock in the curl pattern better than if you let it fall, start to straighten, and then cool. I hope that makes sense. 🙂

https://www.niawigs.com/collections/kinky-curly-lace-wigs

And there you have it, the first curl, all purty-lookin’!

Step 5: After Curling the First Section, use Some Hairspray!

This helps to lock in the curl pattern as it finishes cooling. (Again, this is really important for hard-to-curl hair…like mine. 😉 Here I’m using the Redken Forceful Finishing Spray. It works really well — leaves the hair a little sticky if you use too much, but a light misting is all you need. 🙂

And there you go, one section complete!

Step 6: Section off the Next Part

If you have fine hair, you could probably let your hair down and just do one more section. But for me, I have to do 3 sections total, so here I’m separating my hair right at the temples and clipping up the remaining section of hair.

Step 7: Keep Curling!

Just curl the next section, same as before. I keep the wand a little farther away from the head, as it will end up giving you a more natural curled look to your hair, instead of having curled hair all the way to your roots.

Also, I’m switching up curling sections toward my face and away from my face. This is my personal preference, as I like to have curls that are separate and defined, instead of having them all go one direction and clump together. This is entirely your own personal opinion about how you like your hair to lay. For me, I like to switch up the curl pattern. 🙂

Step 8: Spray Each Section as You Go

Each time you finish a section, give your hair a mist of hairspray. And for those with thick hair, go ahead and finish up the last section of hair at the top — staying a little farther away from the root of the hair strand, like you did in the second section.

Yep, once you’re done, give it another quick spray! (can you tell I have a history of stubborn hair?? 😉 Speaking of which, if your hair is really easy to curl, don’t feel like you have to layer on the hairspray! 😉 But I just wanted to include these tips so that if anyone out there is having trouble getting their curls to last, these tips might help. (And a good curling wand, that helps, too! 😉

There you are! A head full of curls! 🙂 Now, don’t touch your hair! Let it cool for at least 5 – 10 minutes. This is important! It will allow your hair cuticle to cool and close on the new shape of your hair strand, and therefore last a lot longer.

Step 9: Break Up the Curls

Now, if you like the curls without brushing through them, than totally skip this step! But I like it to look a little less ringlet-y and more just loose, natural curls. So I take my fingers and (very gently) run them through the strands to break them up. I also give my scalp a little massage to help get any lines out.

Step 10: Add Products

lace front wigs
Sorry for the quality of the picture…

Than I just take one pump of this argan oil (I am not sure where you can buy this specific brand, but there are many brands to choose from at Ulta). to lightly smooth over my hair. It helps to eliminate any frizz that might be going on, as well as adding a beautiful, healthy shine to the curls.

I find that spritzing a bit of sea salt spray into my hair helps seal my curls in place for longer. So I just used this Got2b Beach Trippin Salt Infusion Waving Spray
and then scrunched the curls with a thin towel as a final step.

For me, I always have to do an extra step to amp up the curls just a bit more. So for this occasion I twisted two front sections back and clipped them in place with a mini Flexi-Clip. (If you want a tutorial on this extra step, let me know! It’s really easy to change up how you bring the front pieces back, so let me know and I can do a detailed tutorial of how to achieve this look, with a different ‘twist’ to each! 🙂

And there you have it! That’s how I get my stubborn, difficult-to-hold-a-curl hair to keep curls. And even with all those steps, my curls usually don’t last the entire night…but using the NuMe Titan3, it lasted all night and the next day! 😀 Using the right kind of material when making the heating tools really does make a difference.

And another thing I noticed…when I curl my hair, it usually feels really dry after I wash it. Like it’s damaged. But this time, when I used the Titan3, it didn’t feel any different than it normally does. Which is a  huge plus for me!

NuMe Giveaway!

Yes, you read it right — NuMe was kind enough to offer to do a giveaway that will run the entire length of my Hairstyling with NuMe series. 😀 Many, many thanks to NuMe for their generosity!

NuMe Curl Jam Set – $280 value!!

Okay, so what they are offering for today’s giveaway is NuMe’s Curl Jam set in black. This set not only comes with a flat iron, but a wand with 3 interchangeable heads! Whoever win’s this giveaway will be set when it comes to their styling tools! 🙂 This set has a value of $280!

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 you check back on a regular basis to get those extra entries! :-)This giveaway will run for three weeks, ending on my wedding day — Saturday, April 26th, 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. Yep, my first big giveaway that’s open to people outside the USA! 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you can’t wait till April to see if you’ve won, and want to try out one of NuMe’s professional tools now, make sure you use this coupon — NUMESPRING50 — to get 50% off your entire order and free shipping. And if you do purchase through NuMe, I’d be thrilled if you went through one of my links! Any profit I get from affiliations always go right back into the blog to help me continue to bring you great reviews and giveaways. 🙂