Currently...

Protective styling with box braids. I have had them now for over a month (not really sure how long).

I haven't posted hair in ages as life has been extremely busy, just catching my breath now.

Anyway, here is a picture of my braids. More posts to come.

Relaxer update

I relaxed my hair on monday (26/08) and followed these steps;
-Properly based the scalp with Vaseline
-Mixed relaxer (ORS no-lye) leaving one-fourth of the activator liquid unused and added one tablespoon of Olive oil.
-Applied relaxer in sections, smoothen but did not comb through
-Rinsed thoroughly with warm water
-Mid-step protein treatment using Motions CPR Protein Reconstructor for 30 mins
-Rinsed and applied ORS creamy aloe shampoo; left in for 5 mins, rinsed and repeated 2 more times leaving shampoo to sit for 5 and 2 mins respectively.
-Deep condition with ORS replenishing conditioner and coconut oil.

Results
- No scalp burns (yay!), I only felt tingling when I was smoothing around the front (an area that had been itching all week).
- Successfully texlaxed; My hair is not bone straight as shown below. The pictures below were taken on friday after co-washing, this is air-dried hair with no product applied.

Hair dairies: Relaxer preparation

One vital aspect of a healthy hair journey, I feel, is RESEARCH. it is important to research products, techniques etc when it concerns your hair. In preparing to relax my hair I read several blogs, articles and watched a few YouTube videos. The most important resource that had a wealth of information, properly explained, was the book; The Science of black hair. Seriously, this is my hair bible, I bought it late last year when I started taking better care of my hair and I keep referring back to it. 

I took down my weave on Monday and proceeded to;

1. clarify with ORS creamy aloe shampoo

2. protein treatment with ORS Hair Mayonnaise

3. Air dry

4. Apply leave-in, moisturise and seal. 

These are also the (part of) same steps recommended upon taking down any protective styles such as braids which have kept the hair hidden for a period if time. 

Due to the fact I that I had the weave on for almost 6 weeks I had a considerable amount of shed hair and I was on the look out for breakage. I did have a little breakage but thankfully nothing drastic. I did not follow up the protein treatment with a moisturizing conditioner judging by the way my hair felt. I proceeded to air dry and decided to blow dry and flat iron as well.

The flat ironing happened the following day, using the ORS heat protectant. The results weren't impressive as I discovered I would need ALOT of heat to get my type 4 hair straight and silky. However it served the purpose of stretching out the hair for my relaxer application. 

I put my hair in 2 big braids and proceeded to countdown to my relaxer application...

Recent hair purchases

Hair update: I relaxed my hair 2days ago on Monday; I will be updating more on my pre-relaxer preparation and the steps I followed for the relaxing process which I did myself (I don't think I can trust any naija hair stylist with a relaxer on my hair). 

Anyway, over the last few months I have made a few purchases and just want to share.

- Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose moisturizing conditioner: I bought this via Amazon UK for about £10.49 (about N2700) and had it delivered to my mum while she was in the UK. I have been searching for a purely moisturizing conditioner for some months now after I ran out of my Organix conditioner and decided I did not want to repurchase. I have used this just once so far and I am yet to form an opinion on it. I plan to post more on how I get on with this soon.

- ORS heat protectant serum: I got this from my local supermarket for N1,020, i also spotted it at Casabella Surulere whem i was there a couple of weeks ago. I used it once last week to blow dry and flat iron my (natural) hair.

- VO5 Moisture milks moisturizing conditioner: this is a repurchase, it is officially a staple for me. I love this particular strawberries scented one. I used it to pre-poo, de-tangle and co-wash. This is the 443ml  bottle, I got this for N440 (a cheapie and goodie!).

- ORS no-lye relaxer kit : after doing my research on lye vs no-lye relaxers, I decided to continue with ORS no-lye. I came across the Optimum Care Amla range relaxer kit at Casabella but didn't get it because there was no way I was going to pay N3,500 for a one-application relaxer cup. Anyway, I'm happy with my decision the ORS worked and I didn't experience any scalp burning.

- wide tooth comb: sorry this is not very visible in the image above but it is there. I got this on impulse; cost N320 at Casabella. *sidenote: Casabella has an wide range of hair tools; combs, rollers, satin scarfs and bonnets at fairly okay prices.**

- Motions CPR protein reconstructor: (pictured below) The aim of my trip to Casabella was to get the Aphogee 2 min reconstructor however they only had the 4oz size for almost N2500, well trust me no way was I going to pay that for such a small size when I had seen the 8oz bottle cheaper online. I proceed to to look for another protein treatment and found this. I paid N820 for the 16oz bottle. Upon getting home I took a closer look at the ingredients and saw that the protein content was way down the ingredients list; is this bad? I used it to my mid relaxer protein treatment, before neutralizing. I don't really have a verdict on this at the moment. 

So these are my recent purchases, I didn't talk about the ORS replenishing conditioner becaus eit is the same one I got months ago. I didn't realize I had already mentioned it on the blog.

If you are in Nigeria and looking for a particular hair product or want more information on where I got mine please don't hesitate to contact me.

Happy hair growing x

Been a long time...

...time for a long overdue update.

My hair has kind of taken a back seat in the last few months; several things including my health, family and job search (life really) kind of took over. A lot of nights I was so exhausted I dropped of without moisturizing and sealing or even wearing my satin scarf. I have been in a protective style, a weave and sadly I neglected my hair underneath for several weeks. 

I have been weaves up for about 5 weeks now and luckily last week I started feeling better and have gotten back on track with moisturizing my hair. I hope I have not done much harm with the previous neglect. I want to keep the weave for another 2-3 weeks and I'm trying to figure out how to wash and condition with a weave on. I so love the convenience a weave affords but hate neglecting my hair. 

Lastly at this point with all the going-ons in my life I feel I cannot keep up with wearing my hair out because of the re-twisting or re-braiding required nightly because wash and go only results in shrunken hair. I am considering returning to relaxed hair. We'll see how it goes.

How's your hair care journey going?

Laters x

First Henna Experience

As I mentioned in my last post, I purchased some henna for use on my hair; it was an interesting experience and I will definitely be incorporating henna treatments in my hair care process. Prior to mixing my henna I did tons of research on the Internet to find out how to best mix it.

I decided to mix it up following Curly Nikki's recipe, which is;

Henna

GreenTea

Honey

Henna Mixture

I used up about half of the packet of henna; I think it's about 50g (the packet is not labelled but I'm guessing it is 100g). I brewed 2 bags of green tea in 1.5 (approx) cups of water and let it cool down before adding to henna. The quantity of honey I used maybe be about 2 tablespoonfuls, I added honey when I was ready to apply the henna.

I was aiming for a mashed potato consistency when mixing the henna but I added a little too much green tea. 

The henna I have is Body Art Quality, with nothing (not other herbs) mixed in, so as par my research after mixing up and I left it to stand overnight for dye release. 

16 hours later I had this...

I applied henna on Clean, washed, damp hair and applied it as I would conditioner, making sure all strands were coated. Afterwards, I covered my hair in cling film and tied a scarf over it and went on with my day.

4 hours later, I was ready to rinse out as it was beginning to drip down my neck and face. 

I used loads of water in the rinsing process and stopped when the water started to run clear, I thought I was done but...I had twigs like particles left in my hair, so I used a cotton T-shirt to soak up some of the water and kind of 'fluffed' up my hair to remove the particles before proceeding to rinse again. Next time I will sift the henna powder before usage. 

Post henna

I expected my hair to feel 'hard' but it was surprising moisturised, I guess because of the honey. I followed up with a moisturizing deep conditioner all the same before putting my hair in twists. With BAQ henna, there is no drastic colour change and the henna tint takes a few days to oxidise and become more noticeable. 

Anyway, a few days later under sunlight I did notice the slight colour tint and I am happy with that. 

Longing for colour

Recently I have felt like colouring my hair but I have been reading up on (commercial/boxed) hair colour and decided against it.

The decision to colour afro textured hair is one that has to be thoroughly researched and prepared for; preparation before colouring, who does the colouring and subsequent care for the hair after colouring. It is advised to have hair colour done by a professional and I know I do not have any such professional around (I will not let a Nigerian hair stylist loose on my hair with colour, no way).

Anyway, I started to look into henna treatments and decided to go that way for now until I can get my hair professionally coloured or I get over the longing for colour (lol). I was able to get hold of some henna (at Emjay supermarket, Victoria Island) and would be 'henna-ing' sometime this week.