Sunday 23 February 2014

Hair Butter - Ethiopia



I first mentioned Ethiopians using churned butter to condition their hair on this blog in this post back in 2013. So imagine my delight when I came across an article someone shared on Facebook from The Daily Mail (UK) on this very subject with some amazing pictorials of beautiful hair and gorgeous people.
Click on the link below to read the entire article.

Saturday 22 February 2014

Hair Update: Thinning peak?



So what’s been going on with the hair? Well I took down my last protective style two weeks in because I noticed that the hair on what would be my widows peak was thinning; I don’t exactly have a peak nor do I have a proper straight hairline I am somewhere in between but you get my drift. Every other part of my hair line was ok, perfectly ok apart from this tiny section so I racked my brain trying to figure out what could have gone wrong when it hit me! Been wearing the same braiding style from late November! I have had my hair braided in different variations of corn rowed styles (Ghanaian braids, tree braids etc) since then with breaks in between of course some long some quite short.  The problem came as a result of having three different installations in a 10 -12 week period with the cornrows facing the same direction – all back.  .
 
I had these installed late November and I have had another set done since then in addition to Tree braids in January.
While my edges were perfectly fine thank goodness I trained by braider on the need to loosen her grip, it seems the tension of braiding  from the same point three different times in a span of 10 – 12 weeks give or take was too much for my “widows peak” so the hair at that point started to thin. It’s a similar situation to how it is recommended not to bun or have a ponytail at the same spot all the time because the hair at that point may start thinning or breaking due to the tension on it. To be honest it is not really noticeable I would have to point it out to most people but I know my hair and I knew something was off with that spot.

So of course the cornrows had to come down so I could give the spot some TLC, I have had my hair out for two weeks now going into my third week and plan to have it out for another two/three weeks before I get another installation done something totally different laying off the front to back corn rowed styles for now.  I might even get a sew in and have that section out as leave out hair who knows! Reason; I retain length better in protective styles plus I sniff some more travel on the way and the less I have to do with my hair while away from home the better for me. Been alternating between store bought and homemade deep conditioners on my wash days; tomorrows wash day is a banana, honey, olive oil, glycerine and avocado oil mix can’t wait:)
 
Tomorrow's wash day major ingredient!
Oh the funniest thing happened last week I bumped into my Aunt shopping one evening while wearing a braid out and after the greetings she goes “did you just take down your braids?” I was like no Aunty this is a style we call it a braid out lol! The look on her face was priceless hahaha she is one of those prim and proper ladylike Aunties and I knew a lecture on how not to go out with my hair “unkempt” would have followed so I quickly had to explain this new generation style to her.

That’s all for now ladies till next time have a lovely weekend:)

Saturday 15 February 2014

Sexy Hair!



I am busy doing my blog rounds and come upon this post by Berry Dakara on how to protect your natural hair during sex! Thanks for the blog post inspiration Berry! A subject that quite honestly I had never seen tackled by any blogger yet until now maybe perhaps because I wasn’t looking I didn’t see any posts:) So I went Googling and came up with these two blog posts which are tailored more towards the natural girls.

Click on the links below to read them;

This is something that quite frankly has never crossed my mind. I spoke to some friends on the topic and their major concern was their hair being pulled so my remedy for that was unless you were caught by surprise tie your hair up before doing the do to minimize breakage.  After care in my opinion if you have the time would be the same thing you would do after a sweaty workout you were working out after all weren’t you hahaha.  But honestly just like exercise I don’t think one should let their hair get in the way of having a healthy love life and intimate relationship. Can you imagine if your husband/boo etc goes like sorry hun not tonight just got back from the barbershop? Think along those lines.

If you are brave enough and feel that this is not too much information do share with us any “during and after sex hair care tips”.

Friday 7 February 2014

Packing tips...



Been doing a bit of travelling so I thought this was the perfect time for this post. I have mentioned before that how I wear my hair on a planned trip depends on a number of factors; duration of stay, destination weather and purpose of trip. Simply put if I am going on holiday where there will be plenty of swimming involved braids would be the way to go and so on and so forth. Thankfully for my most recent travels I already had a protective style on my head so there was not much worrying to do about my hair and I ended up swimming in the hotel pool:)


I basically pack almost the same things now that I did pre hair journey with a few additions and some exclusions. What I pack will also depend on how I will be wearing my hair so if it’s out then some tools like a blow dryer, curling or flat iron, appropriate products, brushes and combs of course will most definitely make it into the suitcase. Depending on the extensions used for example a weave with leave out hair these tools may come along as well. However for braided and corn rowed styles it is usually an oil, my braid spray and some gel to lay down them edges. 

This is what I packed for my trip last week:
Coconut oil – which served a dual purpose scalp and face (I used it in place of castor oil just for the duration I was away I didn’t want to carry too many oils)
Homemade braid spray - transferred into a travel size spray bottle that has a lid
Gel – to lay down them edges
Old toothbrush – still for the edges
Scarf – night use
Hairband
Bobby pins – these ones I didn’t actually pack I always have bobby pins and safety pins in my makeup bag so they end up wherever I am.

Even though I swam I didn’t wash my hair I only rinsed it I had a good mind to use the hotel shampoo but changed my mind last minute so I just rinsed and washed using a chelating shampoo when I got home three days later. If this was a pre planned trip I would have had some shampoo and probably a leave in conditioner packed as well. (I had some trips planned already but this particular one was not one of them it was a last minute one given 24 hours notice to replace someone else subject to my availability)


I wrap all my liquid products both hair and beauty in cling film then put them in a Ziploc bag and place them in a standing position in one corner of my suitcase incase of any accidents with the Ziploc there will be minimal spillage to my clothes.  I have had a product spill on an outfit I was supposed to wear to an event a few years back; thankfully it was all the way at the bottom towards the hemline so it wasn’t so noticeable it was an oil based product and didn’t quite come out when I tried washing it out using a damp cloth. I was on a tight schedule and there was no time to dry clean the dress between arrival and event, that situation gave birth to my wrapping liquid based products in cling film, Ziploc and placed in a standing position in the suitcase.

What hair products/tools are a must have for you on a trip? And please share any packing tips you may have  for products in the comment section below.

Saturday 1 February 2014

Let's Talk Scarves...



Do you use a 
Silk scarf?
 Or a
Bandana or any other cotton scarf?

Or both?

I use both. Yes I use both a cotton scarf and a silk scarf. To be honest I only just started using silk scarves several months into my hair journey. I have a love hate relationship with scarves because they slip off at night and I always find them on the pillow in the morning silk scarves are the worst. So I started using bobby pins on both sides of my head to make them last the whole night but they tend to be uncomfortable to sleep in. I use the bandana scarf when wearing extensions I find it holds better than a silk scarf and my hair is covered in synthetic hair anyway so I don’t find anything wrong with using my cotton scarf when wearing extensions. Funny thing is I only ever wear a scarf when wearing extensions for the first two weeks religiously then semi abandon it for some days unless the extensions are the type that get in your face even when tied up then I will most definitely wear a scarf throughout my protective style run because I don’t like hair all over my face. The silk scarf however I use when I have my hair out of extensions. Why not get silk pillow cases I hear you ask? It’s on my to get list I just haven’t gotten round to doing it yet.  I prefer setting my hair/gel when bunning using a silk scarf though it leaves my hair feeling so silky!

Do you wear a scarf at night or are you a silk pillow case girl? If so which type of scarf cotton, silk or other?