Hiya! Its been ages I know, been super busy! Finally made out time to conjure up this post! Now to the topic, I have come up with a timeline that will serve as a guide while you prepare for the hairstyle you will rock on the big day and I hope it is helpful to all the future brides out there!!

 So he just proposed, YAY!! Now you have fixed the wedding date for the first week of January next year and its September. While you plan for the wedding proper, get your dress and all things in between; don’t forget about your hair!!

FEW MONTHS TO GO; It will be great to start practicing basic good hair practices like moisturizing and sealing your hair daily at least few months to the big day to make sure you have a healthy head of hair that will best showcase your hair style of choice! For instance if your hairline is receding and you are contemplating an updo, you cannot expect the updo to look good with a receding hairline, so few months before the wedding, start giving that spot attention, increase your massages, castor oil applications and hair treatments.

IT’S A MONTH TO GO; By this time, you should have a hairstyle in mind for the big day, your hair should feel better and you should have your hair accessories ready as well.

Finding a good stylist should be top of your priority also; getting that out of the way early enough will save you any last minute disappointments! This is the time to make any changes to your hair! If you want to get it colored, if you want to try out a hair cut, if you want bangs, get them done now so you can feel the change out and tweek it until it sits well with you.

ONE WEEK TO GO; When you have one week to go to your wedding day, your hair should be the least of your worries especially if your have followed this time line. If you are relaxed, get a perm at the beginning of this week, make sure you apply enough relaxer on the edges, so your hair line is sleek and baby hairs are lying down on the D Day! By this time its too late to make any drastic changes to your hair! Save yourself the uncertainty of the results and the heart ache that will follow if your hair ‘change’ turns out to be a disaster!! Of course, temporary changes like getting a weave fixed or getting a trim can be done now.

A DAY TO ‘THE DAY’; Don’t panic, don’t stress yourself out, gather your glam squad together and give them a briefing! If you want a test run then today is the day for that, wash out your hair so you have clean workable hair, apply all the tips from my previous post, jump around if you want and see if your hair holds up. Generally get organized and check that all you need for your hair has been put in order (do not run out of hair pins!!!). I know our traditional weddings are usually a day or two before the white wedding so this time line applies to a day ‘before’ the traditional wedding because once the traditional wedding takes place, there will be barely anytime to sit down and do a test run for your hair.

THE DAY OF; It’s your wedding day! You are getting ready and its time to get your hair put together, my first advice is to get your hair done before your makeup. Why? So all the hair products you use on your hair that might spill to your face will not leave it all shinny! Avoid doing the makeup and hair at the same time, this means you need to start early.  But do not rush if you are not running late, just be well paced. Have a big mirror to view the front as well as the back of your hair. Don’t use too much hair spray; the last thing you want is the smell of hair spray overpowering your Gucci perfume! Put clips in place, don’t forget to ensure your maid of honor carries extra bobby pins and hair clips for you. Finally wear a smile and have a blast!

Hope this wedding hair timeline will be of help to as many brides as it can reach, stay tuned to this blog and expect more from me on wedding hair and hair in general!! Thanks for stopping by!

Xoxo

Dabs!

*Photo Credit- essencemagazine.com

Hiya,

I know its been a while! Hopefully you all have not given up on me J

Well lets get straight to what you must absolutely avoid as a bride when it comes to your wedding hair!!

The first No No is; Do not follow a trend just because its in vogue! Do a style you feel comfortable in instead! For instance; In Naija  there is this Lace Wig trend going on with brides! The lace wig might be very expensive but trust me if it does not suit you, it will look cheap! It also has the tendency to make you look oh so fake!! So beware of trends, not every style goes!

The second No No I have for brides to be relates to the first point, please do not try to look too different!! Yeah I know its your special day and you want to stand out but getting a hair style that will totally transform you until you become unrecognizable is a big NO!! You want your groom to see you and know its you for sure so please make a style that aims at highlighting your natural beauty rather than going overboard! The Lace wig especially the one with baby hairs glued down to the front line is a culprit of this big No No!

Erm Erm, Please do not be cheap!! You might get away with cutting corners on your birthday or for a party but for your wedding day, do not hold back!! It should be a once in a life time experience so you need to make sure you turn out looking grand! If you need to fly a stylist down to get your look together do so, if you have to buy accessories for your hair to go with your look, do so! Just don’t be cheap!

If your hair is relaxed, getting a relaxer treatment a day before your wedding is NOT a good idea! Why? You are leaving too much to chance! What if something goes wrong like the relaxer burning half your scalp! You might not have enough time or patience to get it done properly because of the many things you might have to do! Also the relaxer gives off a smell when you get it done especially when you sweat, now I know you do not want to be smelling of relaxer on your wedding reception dance floor!

Again for relaxed folks, Not relaxing your hair at all and leaving your edges rough is also a big No!! I advice you get a relaxer at least a week to the wedding day so a day before you can get your hair washed out and prepped for the wedding hair style.

Another thing to avoid is Clumsy Hair!! Hair that will loose shape in the middle of the wedding day or fall apart is a No No! if you are doing an updo, make sure it is secured with enough hair clips and that your maid of honour has a few extra clips handy just in case!

Over Accessorizing and Under Accessorizing are No No’s!! Think of the wedding photos and how your hair will come across, you do not want to be too plain but at the same time you do not want to look like a 3yr old with all kinds of hair pins in your hair. Pick a color, a theme and strategically place your hair accessories so that no matter the angle in which your picture is taken your hair will look great!

If you want to get your hair colored, avoid being tacky! Hair color that does not compliment your skin tone is a big NO and should be avoided!

That’s it for Wedding hair No No’s! Hope you enjoyed this post! Until next time, take care!

Dabs

Welcome to the month of September! This month as I promised, is dedicated to all things weddings (hair wise that is!) and to start off the month, I would like to go through things to consider before a bride chooses a hairstyle for herself or for her bridesmaids.

The first consideration should be FACE SHAPES. What is the shape of your face and what style will best highlight your face features. Generally there are 5 shapes of faces; round, square, heart, long and oval.

Ladies with Round faces have to beware of the following; styles that will create volume around their faces, styles with blunt cuts and all one length like bobs or curly short hair. They should rather aim to minimized volume around their face by having tapered bangs or hair in layers. If you fall under this category and want to opt for a curly Brazilian weave on your wedding day, its better if the weave flows past your shoulders in soft curls.

With a Square face, you should avoid styles that will highlight your strong, angular jaw line which is characteristic of a square face. Curls will work best for your shape of face, sleek short styles like a cropped choppy cut will work for you also, but blunt cuts are a no-no!

Heart shaped faces usually have the chin as the focal point and thus you should avoid drawing attention to the chin but rather draw attention to the eyes or cheek bone! A side swept bang will work perfectly with this face shape.

If you have a Long face, avoid styles that will drag down your face and make it even longer like straight, sleek long hair! Too Adam’s Family ‘Motisiaish’, rather go for styles that will add width to your face like curly hair and the full fringe featured on this blog recently!

An Oval face is most versatile in terms of styling but to achieve the most flattering look you can pick out your best features and highlight them, you could highlight your bone structure with a nice updo or you might want to draw attention to your eyes with a soft bang.

Once you have your face shape figured out, give yourself time to experiment on different hair styles while considering the following;

YOUR WEDDING DRESS; The wedding dress style you choose will definitely influence your hair style choice; are you going modern or contemporary? Or is your dress more like a ball gown or is it vintage? Your hairstyle should suit the era your wedding dress is channeling. Just Imagine a bride wearing a vintage wedding dress with all the delicate lace and maybe a corset and then spotting a hairstyle like Beyonce in her 'Run the World' Video!               

She would just ending up confusing people, its either you are in 2011 or in the 1920’s where soft pin curls would accompany such a dress!

THE THEME OF YOUR WEDDING; This should also influence your hair style except you do not have a theme. Some brides may want a Winter Wonderland theme and then have beach waves as their hairstyle on their wedding day!!lol Or in Naija, gum on their scalp some crazy fake looking lace wig!! Your hair style should follow through with the theme of your wedding.

THE LONGEVITY OF THE STYLE; Will your hairstyle hold up through out the wedding while you dance to P Square or Neaot C? Think about that especially with our type of weather in Naija! Some styles are not just for our weather for example, loose curls may just fall flat half way through the day, you need a good stylist who will use the right products like hair sprays to keep your curls in place. That’s why I do not blame most brides here for opting for an updo because not only is it elegant but also it stays in place through out the buggying!

But in choosing a hair style that will last don’t just be boring, choose a style with a WOW FACTOR! Some kind of pizzaz! Something different and interesting that suits you or an interesting hair piece with bling! Don’t just settle for any old style your stylist conjures up.

Speaking of Stylists, my last point is, PRACTICE YOUR STYLE IN ADVANCE!! My aunt told me recently that she was stuck in a crowded salon the day before her wedding (that was before brides hired glam squads) and she ended up not even getting it done and settled for any old style on her wedding day! Moral of the story? Get yourself together! Arrange for a good stylist well in advance of your wedding day, make sure you find time to meet up with him at least twice before the wedding! The first time to discuss the style options and practice them and the second time closer to the day to perfect the style. I do not know how some brides wait till the day of the wedding to deliberate on a style and then waste time doing trial and error and end up running an hour late to Church! Totally uncalled for! Luckily for me, I was brave enough to handle my wedding hair style myself so I had all the time to practice and eventually pulled it of! I will share with you all the Youtube Channel I got my wedding hairstyle from in a future post!

Oh and if you pick a natural sistah as a bridesmaid. allow her to rock her natural hair and express her personality will ya!

Those are the pointers I have for now, my next post will be wedding hairstyle No-No’s! Can’t wait! Hope you all enjoyed this post and do not hesitate to come at me with your comments, questions and ideas! Thanks for stopping by!!

Dabs

 *photo credit; essencemagazine.com