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!!!

Hair Care Basics: Conditioning

Soure: Google

An important part of any healthy hair regimen is conditioning; conditioners restore moisture lost to the shampooing process and improve the hair’s manageability (Audrey Davis-Sivasothy, The Science of Black Hair). There are several different types of conditioners including instant/rinse out conditioners, deep conditioners and leave-in conditioners which can be either moisture replenishing or protein reconstructing.

Based on their ingredients conditioners may serve to replenish moisture or strengthen the hair, it is important to determine the needs of your hair in choosing your deep conditioners. A moisture replenishing and protein reconstructing or strengthening treatment is necessary for all hair types because it is important to maintain the hair’s moisture-protein balance.

Conditioners typically contain several ingredients such as water, plant extracts, oils (natural or synthetic), butters, emollients, conditioning agents such as panthenol, proteins (hydrolyzed silk proteins, aminos, egg proteins etc), humectants, silicones and many others.

Instant/Rinse out conditioners are useful for co-washing or detangling, silicone-free rinse-out conditioners may also be used (mixed with water) as a leave-in conditioner or moisturiser. This is incorporated in several regimens like the Curly Girl Method, Tightly Curled Method and Maximum Hydration method. They are also useful for DIY conditioning mixes and can be tweaked for the purpose of deep conditioning (through addition of oils, herbs or humectants such as glycerin or honey).

Deep Conditioning should be a part of a healthy hair regimen and is recommended to be done weekly. Commercial deep conditioners are often described as deep conditioners, masques, deep treatment, etc.

How to deep condition

• Slather conditioner on the hair strands, it is advisable to do this in small sections to ensure that (as much as possible) all strands are coated. 
• Cover hair with a processing or shower cap 
• Leave on for the recommended time or longer (as you desire). For effectiveness, heat can be incorporated through the use of steamers or heating caps. 
• Rinse with warm water
• Do a final rinse cold water to close the hair cuticles.

It is very important to balance the use of moisturising and protein conditioners; too much moisture or too much protein will lead to setbacks on your journey. A strengthening protein conditioning treatment should always be followed with a moisturising conditioning treatment to avoid the hair being brittle.

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...

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

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.

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!!!

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