Hair DIY: Avocado, Olive Oil and Honey Mask

Hi everyone!

Today I will be sharing information on a DIY hair mask I tried last week using avocado. This is a simple mask with few but highly nourishing ingredients.

This article from Livestrong highlights the benefits of avocados for hair growth when eaten or used as a hair conditioner; it is beneficial for hair growth by protecting and strengthening the hair. Avocados are high in vitamins B and E, which work at the cellular level to protect and strengthen hair. As a conditioner/hair treatment avocados makes hair less dry and prone to breakage, due to the high fat-content.

The recipe I used was from Back to her roots and is shown below; 

INGREDIENTS

1 ripe avocado

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

2-3 drops essential oil (optional)

DIRECTIONS

• Cut avocado into 2 halves and scoop out the flesh
• Blend avocado, honey and olive oil until all avocado bits are gone ( I did not blend but mashed the avocado and I found that I had very few bits of avocado particles left in my hair after rinsing).
• Apply the mask to the hair in sections, ensuring that all strands are well coated.
• Cover hair with shower cap for 30-45 minutes.
• Rinse out avocado mask and proceed with styling.

MY RESULTS

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures throughout the whole process :( . While applying the mask to my hair I immediately noticed the slip of the mask which is great for detangling hair. After rinsing my hair felt soft and well moisturized.

Notes

• The mask can be used on relaxed, transitioning or natural hair
• If you have longer hair you can double the ingredients
• You can buy avocadoes in Nigeria at your local fruit seller, they call it 'Pear'
• The avocado to be used should be ripe or even slightly over ripe (should be soft to touch)

Will you be trying this mask or any other? Do share!

Happy Hair Growing!!!

2014 hair!

Hello!

I know I have not posted in forever, forgive me. This just got pushed aside. 

This is a quick post to show what has been going on with my hair. 

I am currently transitioning back to natural lol...why did I relax / texlaxed in the first place you may ask? Well more on my decision to transition back in another post. 

Meanwhile, I was VERY bad to my hair during the course of the year. I neglected it several times and got the repercussion. 

I got back on track each time and have been consistent for the past 4-5 months and my hair is thriving. 

I am working out my hair plans for the new year, please do share yours in the comment section. 

Anyway, pictures...

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.

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.

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.