If you follow Mane and Chic on Twitter, then you know I got ombré highlights for my birthday (February 13th). They didn’t come out quite like I expected; in fact, I won’t see much of a difference in my hair at all. I’m hoping it will lighten a few shades over time.

I will show you my inspiration: Camila Alves. You know her as the beautiful Brazilian model, host of Shear Genius and mother to Matthew McConaughey’s two children. I only watched the show a couple of times, but on one episode, one of the challenges was to do Camila’s hair and I saw that she had naturally curly and frizzy hair probably in the Type 3B-3C range.

Anyway, these pictures inspired my hair. My hair is a lot more subtle and natural looking. You probably won’t notice a difference in person or in photos, but Camila’s look is what I was going for. It’s edgy but easy and beachy… that’s who I am right now. I think the stylist was too afraid to push the limits. I’ll post pics of my hair soon, but in the meantime… here’s my inspiration.

A couple of readers have been inspired by Rihanna’s red hair, but wanted to know if a bold red color would work on darker skin tones.

If you’re conservative, you might choose a subtle more natural looking red. You should look at swatches with a hair stylist and perhaps go to a store that sells hair and play with the different shades against your skin tone. Before you make a commitment to color, it might be a good idea for you to use hair augmentations to test drive a color or you might actually just want to wear hair augmentations to avoid coloring your hair altogether. Chemically dying your hair is very risky. If you’re looking for a change, temporary hair pieces are a healthier option. Just be sure that you’re taking care of your hair underneath and that you’re avoiding too-tight-braiding practices.

Kelis may be a little darker than Rihanna. You can see the red working for her skin tone and curly hair. source: bvhairtalk

 

I think it’s interesting to see how many men, Jewish men, are coming out about getting relaxers. Recently, Issac Mizrahi was on The Wendy Williams Show where he admitted to getting relaxers. On Watch What Happens with Andy Cohen, Nate Berkus didn’t exactly cop to getting relaxers, but he said that he only washed his hair once a week and it’s packed with products to keep it tame. In his book, Fierce Style: How To Be Your Most Fabulous Self, Christian Siriano describes in detail his hate for his curly hair and why he gets relaxers.

Fashion Designer, Isaac Mizrahi source: Country Living

Interior Designer, Nate Berkus source: ifelicious.com

Fashion designer, Christian Siriano source: www.fashion.elle.com

In celebration of Mane & Chic’s three years of blogging, I am re-posting my favorite post. Here’s one I did on Mya. This was before everyone starting shaving the sides of their heads and at the time, Mya was the only person I saw doing this all-to-one-side curly style. It is one style in heavy rotation in my hairstyle repertoire. I use hair pins to keep the hair in place, but you can you combs or whatever you have on hand to achieve “The Mya”. Some of you may be able to just pull the length of your shoulder, but I prefer to use pins so that I have more control and hold.

So here is the photo of Kim Kardashian that inspired that curly hairstyle I was telling you about the other day. The style is super simple. If you can braid a simple braid then you can do this.

I don’t do french braids I just braid the front two sections and secure with a clip or hair tie. I don’t braid all the way down, just enough so that the braid is visible from the front and sides. I let the ends curl up and blend the curls with the rest of my hair.

I try to keep the braids pretty loose and big. I tried just securing over the hair in the back and also lifting the hair at the crown and securing it underneath. The later option just hides the braids which is  just a different way to change up the look. They both are great options. This is an easy style that can be adapted to natural hair. I like wearing it with roller sets and braid outs which curly ends. Try it out!

Ms. Ross has been hitting up a lot of Pre-Oscar events this weekend. Here are some of her looks.  I guess she’s in her Black Period.  Hello TV executives, can we get her another show ASAP?  How dope would he be if Tracee and SJP did a show together?  I had a dream about it.  Ummm… Tyler Perry… hook a sister up with some work or something.  I hear she just wrapped a movie called Labor Pains starring Lindsay Lohan.  No comment on that.  I think she would do well on The Office, Dancing with the Stars, and I would just die if she was on Desperate Housewives but I think I’d like to see her do more of an improv sitcom-ish show.  What are your thoughts, if you could add Tracee to any show currently on air… what would it be?