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.

MHC Minty Shea Butter Mix

About a week ago I made a batch of whipped Shea butter and would like to share the recipe with you.

Shea Butter
Coconut Oil
Grapeseed oil
Castor oil
Peppermint oil

Whipped Shea butter is so easy to make; I started by melting the Shea butter. To melt I put the Shea butter in bowl and placed that bowl in a bigger one with some hot water and left for a few minutes to melt.

Melting the Shea butter

Melted Shea butter

After the Shea butter was all melted I added in Castor, Grapeseed and Coconut oils. I did not measure the quantity of oils, I just eyeballed it. I also added a few drops of Peppermint oil. I left the mixture for a while and then started to whip using an electric whip until I achieve a fairly creamy texture. Afterwards, I scoped the mixture into the container and put in the refrigerator to solidify. Less than an hour later, I took it out and had a ready to use mix.

Whipped Minty Shea Butter

 



This is a good way to use up Shea butter and it also makes it easier to scoop. This mix can be used to seal in moisture and is also a good body butter :)

Happy hair growing!

Hair Update and plans

I realized I have not posted an update on my hair recently and decided to post one. I had box braids done around the second week in March and took them out on the 21st of April after a little over 6 weeks.

I was a bit worried about my edges because the braider made them too tight and I had to take down the edges after a couple of days. Overall, my hair thrived even with my being lazy with hair care.

I have a three new products added to my arsenal; ORS replenishing conditioner, cantu Shea butter leave-in and (finally!) a sulfate free shampoo, CON Argan oil moisture and shine shampoo.

Last weekend I decided to protective style for a few months, I'm thinking three months, because it is something that has always worked for me. In line with this I am starting a personal protective styling challenge and will provide more details on that in a separate post.

For the next month my protective style will be wigs. The wig I am currently wearing is a short one with bangs shown in the picture below.

Shopping for hair products in Nigeria (2): Casa Bella

Hair products are big part of a healthy hair journey and I am always on the look out for quality and affordable products. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled on a blog by a Nigerian lady based in Lagos, Ifeyinwa. In one of her posts she mentioned Casa Bella and I made a note to visit.
The right opportunity came on Workers' Day and I went the store in the Ikeja City Mall. I was so impressed with the selection of products available.

The brands they had in stock include;

• Beautiful Textures
• Elasta QP mango & olive butter
• Aphogee (protein treatments, leave in conditioner, shampoo)
• Keracare
• Roots of Nature
• Jamaican lime & mango
• Organics by Africa's Best
• Strength of Nature (profective mega growth)
• Creme of Nature Argan oil range
• Taliah waajid
• Cantu Shea butter for natural hair
• Groganics
• Mizani
• Giovanni
• Ojon
• African Pride
• Hawaiian Silky Moroccan Argan oil range
• Tresemme
• Herbal Essences conditioners (including HE Long Term Relationship)

There are a few others that I cannot recall unfortunately. They also have satin scarfs, bonnets rollers and combs (including wide tooth). I feel their products are competitively priced, especially as i have already seen some of the products priced (slightly in some cases) higher elsewhere.
They have a nice selection of wigs, short, long, straight and curly. I had my eye on a curly one which retails for N7,000 but I did not buy it. I purchased two items I actually need, the much raved about Cantu Shea butter leave in (N1,600 for 16oz) and CON sulfate free shampoo (N1,490 for 12oz).

It is great to have a store that stocks a wide range of hair care products. If you are looking for quality hair products, I recommend you visit one of the various Casa Bella stores.

Their Lagos locations are:
Adeniran Adesanya shopping centre, Surulere
The Palms Shopping Centre, Lekki
Ikeja City Mall, Alausa

Email: info@casabella.com.ng

Happy hair growing!

Video: SimplYounique

 

 

Hi,

Today I'm sharing a video from SimlYounique who I discovered a few months ago on YouTube. In this video she talks about a few techniques she uses/has used that help with length retention. I hope you can learn a thing or two. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Shopping for hair products in Nigeria (1)

When you decide to take better care of your hair and begin to read several blogs, you may realise the need to purchase new products. If you are in Nigeria, the immediate challenge may be where to get these products from. In this post, I will start up with products you can come across in supermarkets and stores around. It is important when selecting hair care products is to carefully examine the ingredients list.

The products you purchase may be dependent on your hair care needs or preference, for example you may want silicone-free products or may not mind mineral oil in your products. It all depends on you. Below is a list of products I have come across in several stores; a lot of them can be found in Shoprite and various supermarkets around town. I have included prices for the ones I have seen recently and can remember.

Cleansers/Shampoo
A sulphate-free shampoo is recommended as it is less harsh and does not strip the hair of natural oils. So far, I have not come across a sulphate-free shampoo in the stores here. My current shampoo has sulphates but I do not use it weekly and often dilute it before using. I often use (Dudu Osun) black soap (N110) as an alternative cleanser.

Conditioners
In your product arsenal you would need a moisturising deep condition, a protein deep conditioner and a leave-in conditioner. An instant conditioner is useful also for co-washing (washing with a conditioner instead of shampoo).
Some easy to find conditioners;
Protein: ORS Hair Mayonnaise N960 (size:494g)
Moisturising: dark and lovely ultra cholesterol conditioning mask (contains Mineral Oil)
Protein/Moisture balance: ORS olive oil replenishing conditioner N910 (12.5 oz)
Instant conditioner: V05 conditioners - N980 (several variants e.g moisturising, protein/anti-breakage, clarifying etc)
Leave in: Vitale anti-breakage conditioner
Gentle touch leave in conditioner N710 (contains a silicone amongst the ingredients)

Moisturiser
Our hair thrive on moisture, this is absolutely important. The best source of moisture is water, so you should look out for lotions with water as the first  ingredient.
Some easy to find water-based moisturisers;

Organics Extra Strength Olive Oil Growth Lotion N810
Organics Carrot Oil moisturiser
ORS Carrot Oil Moisturiser

Tip: Since water is the best moisturiser, it is possible to spritz your hair with plain ole' water and seal with a heavy butter/oil mixture (e.g shea butter mixture).

Oils
Goya Extra Virgin Olive Oil N350
Coconut Oil (prices vary from vendor to vendor)
Shea Butter (prices vary)

Hope this information helps on your hair journey.

Happy Growing!

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Hair Meetup: Naturals In The City 5

Hi!

There's a hair Meetup coming up in Lagos, organised by Natural Nigerian ; it is called Naturals in the city (NITC). This is the 5th edition and I plan to be in attendance for the first time. If you are in Lagos and would like to purchase (natural) products for your hair (and body) there will be various vendors in attendance. I believe it's not just for ladies (and gents!) with natural hair, if you are relaxed, transitioning and everything else do come along.


See event details in the poster below;

New Product: ORS Lock & Twist Gel

I happened to stumble on this product a few weeks ago at the supermarket but I wanted to research the ingredients and read reviews online before buying (important tip when selecting products:first, learn to read through the ingredients to determine if it has any harsh or undesirable ingredients. Also, read reviews to know how others have found the product although bearing in mind that what works for some may not work for you).

When I finally decided to try it out it was no where to be found in the same store and they seemed to have no knowledge of the product and could not provide any information on whether it would be back in stock. That's the thing with hair products around these parts, apart from the usual hair relaxers and grease, there is no guarantee that the product available one day will be in stock when you visit again. Anyway, while in another supermarket, I saw this in the hair aisle and promptly snatched it up. It cost N720 for 16.25oz (460g), it was priced at N1000 at the first store I spotted it.

Product details:
Ingredients: Water (aqua), Coconut Milk (cocos nucifera extract), Soybean oil (Glycine Soya), PVP, Polyquaternium 37, Propyl Paraben, Methyl Paraben, DMDM Hydantoin, Propylene Glycol, Fragrance (parfum), Sucrose.

Okay, from my research into the ingredients I discovered that this is a good product. it is not all natural; Ingredients such as propyl Paraben and methyl Paraben may be of concern to someone who avoids using parabens.

My experience:
This is the only gel in my product stash and so far I have used this for a braid-out since I am still learning how to do two strand twists. I used it after moisturising and sealing as usual, It produced reasonable hold when I undid the cornrows. Most importantly to me, it did not have a drying effect in my hair, infact it felt well moisturised so much so that I did not have to moisturise and seal as often as I normally do. This product will very likely remain a staple for me because it is easy (well kind of) to get hold of when I run out and it seems to agree with my hair.

Hair Inspiration: Reniece's Real Black Hair Showcase

This video is a must-see!

Big chop or not

...that's the question I had someone ask. She said she intended to go natural but was weary of cutting off her hair.

My answer:

A big chop, or low cut as we commonly call it around here is not necessary. If you feel you do not look good with short hair, learn to manage your two textures and cut off relaxed ends gradually. The way you transition is a personal decision and should be one you feel comfortable with. When transitioning over whatever period of time it is important to know that the new growth needs to be cared for to avoid breakage at the line of demarcation.

Do you have any tips for transitioning? Please do share!

Happy Growing!

Hair Story and Choices

I mentioned in my previous posts about my hair cut that I planned to commit to being relaxer free for 6 months, well right now I plan to stay natural. I am inspired by a lot of the naturalistas I have come across on blogs, internet hair forums and YouTube. I am really curious as to how I can manage my natural texture now that I have more information about healthy hair care.

HairStory

My natural hair was quite full and thick, my mum made sure I got regular shampoos and never had any form of heat applied. I had my first relaxer in almost 10 years ago, after pestering my mum for almost 2 years. I remember my first term in secondary school a lot of the girls had relaxed hair and I began to pine to have mine relaxed. You see, I thought relaxed hair was the way to go, it could be combed easily, worn down and most importantly to me they didn't have to get their hair woven almost weekly like I still had to. Initially I stopped having my hair woven and later I wore single plaits done myself without extensions from time to time.

From my first relaxer to the last one in November I almost always got burnt scalp. I always dreaded going to the salon to get my hair relaxed. Although, I did do some wrong things most commonly, relaxing immediately after taking down braids or weaves. This was because I was clueless as to how to stretch my relaxer. Another mistake I made once was colouring my hair immediately after relaxing, the colour didn't catch and I began to experience major breakage.

In recent years I abused heat; My love for heat started when I was studying for my masters, before I located a hair stylist I bought myself a blow dryer and hair straightener to achieve the straight look frizz free. Even when I found a stylist, my visits were mostly for relaxer touch ups or once in a while weaves. When I started full time employment my heat abusing got worse, a lot of times I straightened my ends DAILY! I had a signature straight/bob, neck/shoulder length hair look going on and one time I got braids done my colleagues thought it was someone else sat at my desk before they saw my face lol. I always wore my hair down, in spring, summer, autumn or winter, my hair was down.

My bad practices and neglect were enough to keep me stagnated at neck/shoulder length. Now I've done a complete turn around, taking better care of my hair. Early on when I started my research into healthy hair care I noticed a lot of ladies who would grow long healthy relaxed hair and then suddenly begin to transition back to natural. This got me thinking and peaked my interest in my natural hair.

I know my texture is not going to be identical to someone else's but I am excited to find out what it is and learn to take proper care of it.

Hair Regimen

This is a long overdue update; I have had a busy couple of weeks but still continuing to take care of my hair. I have been working to establish a hair regimen and will outline what I have come up with so far and the products I use.

Daily

• Moisturize and Seal (morning and night)

Every other day

• Scalp massage with oils
• Green House Effect

Mondays

• Prepoo with honey and coconut oil for 30 mins with heated towel
• Shampoo
• Deep Condition (Moisturizing DC or Protein DC, Protein every 2 weeks)
• Apply Leave in conditioner
• Moisturize using Liquid, Oil, Cream (LOC) method

Saturdays

• Deep Condition on dry hair with a mixture of honey, oils and a moisturizing DC (this coincides with when I do my weekly facial cleanse, scrub, mask etc so it works out)
• Co-wash
• Apply Leave-in conditioner
• Moisturize and Seal (LOC)

PRODUCTS

Shampoo:

• ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo
• Black Soap (Dudu Osun)

Conditioners:
Moisturizing

• Moroccan Argan Oil Intense Moisturizing treatment
• Dark and Lovely Ultra Cholesterol Conditioning Mask
• V05 Moisture Milks Conditioner (instant/cowash conditioner)

Protein

• ORS Hair Mayonnaise**
• Vitale Anti-Breakage Leave in conditioner
• V05 Split Ends Antibreakage Conditioner (instant/cowash conditioner)

Moisturizers

• Organics Extra Strength Olive Oil Growth Lotion
• ORS HAIRepair Anti-breakage creme
• Elasta QP Olive and Mango Butter

Oils

• Olive oil
• Grapeseed oil
• Jojoba Oil
• Castor Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Amla Oil ***

N.B
**After reading a certain post on LHCF I am unsure about ORS Hair Mayonnaise as a protein treatment, I am looking to get another protein deep conditioner but want to see how my hair fares with this conditioner first.
*** The brand of Amla oil I have, has Mineral Oil as the FIRST ingredient so it is not getting frequent use.

That's it! My current regime, I try to respond to what my hair needs rather than just following a regimen strictly for example I cowash almost daily as I found it works out for me in this TWA stage.

Wash Day Diaries: a sweet treat for my hair

I had a busy weekend; on Saturday I had to organize a women's event in my church and that took the whole day. I would normally have done a co-wash and deep treatment on Saturday but I had to skip that because I rushed out of the house.

Pre-poo
I decided to do a honey and coconut oil prepoo; for the past week I've been adding honey and evoo to my deep conditioners and decided to try it as a prepoo. I had run out of EVOO so I used coconut oil and honey, along with some grapeseed and castor oil, covered with a plastic bag and shower cap and left on for about 30mins.

Shampoo
I shampoo once a week and did so this wash day, I still haven't bought a sulfate free shampoo and still use ORS creamy aloe shampoo. I diluted it with water, some coconut oil and V05 anti-breakage conditioner.

Deep conditioner
For the deep conditioning treatment I applied organix Moroccan Argan oil intense moisturizing treatment, covered with a plastic bag, a warm towel and a shower cap over that. I left that on and proceeded with breakfast, house chores and playing with my baby. I finally rinsed it out when my son went down for his nap.

Drying and leave-in
Air dried, after using a cotton tee for a few minutes. My leave-in conditioner went on and then following a LCO method; I applied water based cream ORS hairepair anti-breakage cream and sealed with Grapeseed oil.

Observation
Can I say my hair 'thanked' me for this lol, Hair felt very soft afterwards. I think the honey prepoo is something I would aim to continue.

Picture of the day: Rocking my TWA

Most days my hair is under a wig but a few days ago I rocked my Teeny Weeny Afro when running some errands.

Hair Babble: The Moisture Edition

- I'm still very pleased with my big chop (if I'm permitted to call it that). I guess I was just prepared and knew it was necessary.
- I'm struggling to keep my hair moisturised; it feels great after a wash or co-wash and moisturizing and sealing session but after a few hours it gets dry and coarse. It must be due to the kinky type (4c I think) of hair I have. I've tried spritzing in-between moisturizing sessions with a mixture of water, my vitale liquid leave-in and coconut oil.
- I plan to incorporate humectants into my routine; I used honey this week as part of my deep conditioning mixture. I hope to see changes when I begin to use it regularly. I also plan to purchase glycerin ASAP, I have read good reports of its moisturizing qualities for (natural) hair.
- I want to try the LOC method of moisturizing, maybe it will be a more effective moisturizing method.
- Lastly, I've been on a lot of natural hair blogs and they make me want to stay natural, however I want to commit first to being relaxer-free for six months then see where I go from there. Six months Makes sense for me anyway because I don't like the look of uber short relaxed hair.

Have a stress-free weekend!

The one where I cut my hair

So, late last night/early this morning I cut my hair!

This is why;

I did not like the way it was all uneven because of the areas where I had lost hair and finally just cut the longer areas, making it all equal.

Here are some pictures I took after co-washing this morning.

I felt so much better after the cut and it really felt like the right thing to do. This is new to me as I have never had my hair this short. It 98% natural now and I will be relaxing when it grows a few more inches. I have already been using wigs as my protective style and would continue that as well as other protective styles throughout the year in order to grow and retain length

I'm keeping my 2013 length goal as Shoulder- Length and it would be a great feeling to achieve that.

Excited!!!

Newbie Experiences:Regimen building and Choosing my hair products

I love to read about the hair regimens of ladies on healthy hair journeys. I am always interested in knowing what these ladies are doing or have done to grow and maintain their hair. Initially I was taking note only of the product used instead of the hair care habits. Later after reading several regimens I began to pay more attention to what they did to their hair and how they choose their hair products.

Firstly, I noticed frequent washes were a common factor. Secondly, I noticed that the product choices differed from lady to lady but for black hair I discovered the emphasis on moisture. Moisture, moisture and more moisture! Previously I had the 'oil' your hair mentality, and this was using products laden with petrolatum and/or mineral oil. Also i discovered it was not just about introducing moisture to the hair, that moisture had to be sealed in, using natural oils or commercial oil mixes. These two discoveries revolutionised the way I thought about hair care and armed with this information I cleared aside my old hair products and set out to acquire new ones.

I already had olive oil and shea butter which I normally use on my son but then I needed a moisturiser to seal in. So on my first hair product shopping list were; water based moisturiser, sulfate free shampoo and a conditioner. I spent quite a few minutes reading ingredients lists in my local supermarket and ended up purchasing these;

I was very pleased to have been able to get these basics on my first trip. I was unable to get any sulfate-free shampoo (difficult to find in stores here in Nigeria) so I opted for black soap to use for my first wash, Dabs of nhcg mentioned using it in one of her posts. I wanted a growth aid and picked up a small tube of virgin hair fertilizer, I had used this products before and it did increase/aid my hair growth however I was now doubtful because I read the ingredients this time. It contains:

Herbal extract, petroleum jelly, peppermint oil, lanolin and fragrance

After a bit of online research I decided to use it overnight only before wash days so that it would not build up on my scalp.

A rookie mistake I made was not realising the difference between instant and deep conditioners. For my first wash day, I made use of the V05 conditioner after shampooing, while on my second wash day I did a homemade protein deep treatment using eggs and olive oil. We spent the holidays (Christmas, new year) at my parents and luckily my mum had some ORS hair mayo! I used that while I continued my research into protein and moisturising deep conditioners.

I ended up with the products shown below, these are what I am using for my current hair care and regimen building, I will be outlining that in a future post.

 

 

Hair Challenge: 6 inches of growth

I am joining in on the 6 inches of growth challenge hosted by Dabs of Naija Hair Can Grow, the aim is to grow and retain length in 12 months. Challenge details and rules can be found here.

Hair is said to grow about half an inch per month, hence six inches in 12 months. The aim is to practise good hair care practices in order to retain most of that growth. This challenge is perfect for me as I currently am all about growing healthy hair and retaining most of the growth this year.

My first length check with my DIY length check tee. Hopefully my hair will actually land somewhere on the tee as the challenge progresses.

 

 

 

 

 

2013 Hair Goals

This is a first for me; hair goals. I am consciously setting goals for my hair alongside goals in other areas of my life. For me what I want and hope the most to achieve this year is health and length. Towards the end of 2012 I began to learn about healthy hair care practices and have started practising these.

Healthy Hair Goals
1. Moisturise and Seal daily
2. Develop a hair care regime and follow through.
3. Relaxer stretch for at least 12 weeks
4. Deep condition weekly
5. Maintain protein/moisture balance

Length Goal
Full Shoulder-Length


*image source: http://hairdelacreme.blogspot.com/2011/01/hair-length-chart-and-site-acronyms.html?m=1

Happy New Year

Here's to fresh starts in 2013!

My hair mantra for 2013 is health and length.

Happy Hair Growing!