Breezy Beauties

Embrace beauty on your own terms

Curly Hair

Hair Dye Without Damage- Easy Temporary Hair Color Tutorial

     Bri Fitzpatrick      Leave a Comment

I dyed my hair a bold green shade without any dryness or damage. You can too.

I know you’re here for the hair story, but first I have to share a quick life update.

We made it to 2022. It’s a big deal. 2 years into this panorama. It’s wild . I’m honestly so grateful. Everyday is a blessing. Tomorrow isn’t promised. My goal is to live my best life now by living life on purpose.

I’m excited to use this platform to do just that. This year, in addition to beauty inspiration – you can expect even more self care, mindset and motivational content. After all, feeling beautiful starts on the inside with confidence and boldness.

I’m excited, I hope you are!

While we’re talking about being excited…

I forgot to share some amazing news. As of December 2021, I am a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. I’m honored to be a part of the oldest Black sorority because of it’s amazing legacy of supreme service to all mankind.

That also means that on January 15th I celebrated my first Founders’ Day. If you’re a regular reader of Breezy Beauties you probably know how much I love going all out, so it shouldn’t be very surprising to hear that I did a hair and makeup look for J15.

What I used: 

Poise N Ivy Green hair wax

Clinique Even Better Foundation 

Dose of Color – Pretty Cool Eyeshadow Palette

Beauty Bakerie 👩🏾‍🍳-Do It For the Graham palette

Beauty Bakerie 👩🏾‍🍳 -Brownie Bar palette 

M.A.C.  lipstick – shade Sultry Move

NYX Lip liner- shade Downtown Beauty 

Farmasi – Satin Pink Lip Gloss

Tag a friend who’s a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Hey Naturals! Y’all still greasing y’all scalps?

     Bri Fitzpatrick      Leave a Comment

Real question to my fellow black girls, naturalistas and kinky, curly and or coily baes. I’d like to get a consensus. Do you still use the old school hair-care technique of greasing your scalp?

For those of you who didn’t live a 1990s black American childhood, it used to be common practice to use hair grease on one’s scalp. I’d dare say every black household had at least one jar of Blue Magic at all times. Whether the style was twisted pig tails with barrettes and knockers or a cute braided hairdo with beads your mom would slather grease on your parts.

As a teenager, I moved away from these traditions. I processed my hair and there is a whole other set of rules to caring for relaxed strands (which I don’t recommend – but alas it’s your life, girl). During my freshman year of college, I transitioned to my natural texture and wore it out – AS IS- for the first time ever. 

I discovered the natural hair movement and an entirely different set of haircare mores and paradigms. I think I’ve tried every mainstream curly hair technique out there. From shingling to plopping (which is an utter flop on type 4 hair), following the curly girl method, and even being the girl buying up most of the produce section to make homemade deep conditioners. The mineral oil laden grease was not a major player in this movement that inspired black women to embrace the hair that grows out of their scalp. 

Almost 10 years later, I’m a little less radical about my hair. I still believe you should be at peace with your natural God given appearance. I think chemicals are crazy harmful and the practice of hair straightening can be damaging to our psyches when it becomes a beauty standard. I love variety, so I’m the type of natural who switches textures via wig. All the fun, none of the commitment- or heat damage. I guess you could say that I’ve mellowed in my “old age”. 

Despite having seasons of being extremely meticulous about my hair, I have yet to see long hair. Mid back length (when stretched) is my goal. I’m revisiting some of the methods I’ve tried over the years to find what works and omit what is taking too much time and yielding minimal results. For the past month or so, Blue Magic has been back in the mix. In addition, I’m using a hair steamer to make sure moisture can penetrate the shaft of my low porosity strands I’m also using a method I read about years ago but didn’t have the guts to do until now.

I guess my approach is “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”. We’re committed to the cause forreal, forreal ✊🏾😂

I want to hear your thoughts on using hair grease vs natural oils and butters. Are you team old school or new school or are you taking a hybrid approach?

New Year, New Hair. Curly Hair Tips

     Bri Fitzpatrick      Leave a Comment

It's January, so I know you've already made some goals, but you may have to edit them after reading this epic list of hair goals and life advice.

Hey there beautiful,

If I haven’t officially told you yet, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New year, new hair. Curly hair tips

Is anyone hoping and praying that this year is NOTHING like last year? Yeah, ME TOO! We expected 2020 to be new growth, but got split ends and breakage instead. Curly and kinky-curly haired girls understand what I’m talking about all too well.

I’m not here for it this year. I’m claiming growth, strength, and retention in all areas of my life. It’s funny how hair goals can go hand in hand with life goals. It may sound like a bit of a stretch, but stay with me.

I made a list of 2021 hair goals that are also words to live by in 2021 and beyond. Check it out!

1. Stretch Yourself, But Be Careful Not to Snap

2021 is about knowing when to stretch yourself (you definitely should go beyond your comfort zone) and when you’re about to break. This beauty chat is dropping life gems. Who would have thought? 

This life advice translates directly to haircare (particularly textured haircare). There are many benefits of stretching your hair without heat or excessive tension. On textured strands, each kink or curl is a fragile point, that can easily snap and fall victim to breakage. 

Many stylists recommend wearing hair in stretched styles, so that it does not break as easily. Know when to stretch yourself and know when you’re using too much heat. Mastering this concept will help you save more than just your tresses. 

2. Begin with the End in Mind

I’ve been familiar with this phrase, coined by Stephen Covey, in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, since my teen years. Covey speaks about intentionality and making choices that help your end goal a reality each and every day. 

I have a haircare related spin on this. Love your ends. Baby your ends. Moisturize your ends. If you’re applying product, saturate your ends first.

You might be wondering why. The ends of your hair happen to be the oldest part of your hair. They are comparatively weak and fragile. They need the extra moisture and TLC or else they are likely to split or break off altogether. 

3. Take Your Time

Slow and steady wins the race. If you rush, 1 of 2 things will happen. You’ll burn out or you’ll move recklessly. Neither of those are good options. 

Recklessness isn’t good for hair or for life. Take your time, sis. Detangle gently. Don’t rip through your hair. The “time saved” can reverse months of growth. Take your time and retain those inches. 

4. Consistency Yields Results

Consistently good habits beat occasionally great habits. You don’t have to follow every rule or deep condition every week. Commit to a few manageable yet impactful habits. You will see results more than if you tried to do something incredibly extravagant or time consuming once in a blue moon. 

The life lesson here is to commit to routines that make sense for your life and lifestyle. If you can’t do it consistently, it’s not a viable strategy. Doing something extraordinary once a quarter, followed by doing the bare minimum for the next 3 months, will not help you achieve lasting change. 

5. Your Journey is Yours and Yours Alone

Comparison will only drive you crazy. Your goals should not be about being as good as or better than the next person.

Beauty Fact

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, the average person can grow 6 inches of hair per year. Be realistic with your goals. You’re not going to go from a fade to waist length hair overnight. Treat your hair like the valuable, fragile crown that it is. 

What do you think? Can hair goals teach us life lessons or is this a major reach? I want to hear your 2021 hair goals. Whatever your goal may be, I’m wishing you an abundance of GROWTH this year. 

CURLS’ Wash and Go Gel on 4A Natural Hair

     Bri Fitzpatrick      Leave a Comment

Curly girls, where you at? Let’s talk about CURLS’ new wash and go gel.             

If you have textured hair, like myself, you probably know how challenging it can be to achieve the perfect wash and go (a style that highlights your natural curl pattern by using curl defining stylers and gels). My go to gel for years has been Eco-Styler Gel. It does an amazing job of defining my curls and coils, but it leaves a hard, crunchy gel cast that can’t be scrunched away.

A friend of mine shared a discount/affiliate code for the CURLS brand. I’ve used a few of their products in the past and was curious about its recently launched series of styling gels. I grabbed all four.

Curls Wash and Go Gel, B N Control Sculpting Gel

The green bottle was formulated specifically for “wash and go’s”. The company calls it the B n Control Sculpting gel. It’s supposed to have a firm hold without flaking or having drying alcohols.

Is it worth it?

Read more to see an in-depth assessment of this gel. We’re getting into the nitty gritty. Everyone knows us curly girls are PARTICULAR when it comes to our products.

Smell

Neutral to bad. This is not one of those products that makes passersby admire the scent of your hair. While I didn’t think it stunk, the mixture of ingredients was slightly unpleasant.

Price

This gel retails for $5.99. I used a discount code so I paid a little less. Even without a discount, the price isn’t bad for 10 oz of product. If you’re ingredient conscious, this is a good affordable option.

Ingredients

I mentioned that this is a decent choice for ingredient snobs on a budget. TRUE… but I still had to side eye an ingredient or two. It has silicones in the formula, something I generally try to avoid.

That being said, redeeming ingredients include aloe vera juice, shea butter and jojoba oil and does manage to omit drying alcohols.

How Much Product I Used

A LOT. I didn’t measure or anything like that, but I can comfortably say I used at least an ounce of product, and it’s not that my hair is that long. I probably should have used less but I felt like I was using enough for it to define my curls. So I used more. (More on that to come).

My Results

Unfortunately I lost my day one results, as I switched phones that day. I do have a picture of “day two hair”. This is after spritzing (liberally) with water and fluffing. 

One great thing I can say about this gel is that it didn’t make my hair take forever to dry. Even with my liberal usage. My hair dried in under 3 hours which for me is almost miraculous.  Unfortunately, I think it failed to define my curls. I can achieve a fluffy wash and go’s without gel… so I going to rate this product as fairly ineffective on my hair type.

I’m almost sure that this product was meant designed for curl patterns 2c-3c, despite the company advertising it for all curl types. One size fits all is not typically a real thing in the natural hair world.

If you’re a type 4a-4c natural and have given this a try, let me know how you liked it. If anyone with looser curls has tried it, let me know how you liked it.