#Wash day #Relaxer prep #Multitasking

The braids are finally out! I am currently 21 and a half weeks post relaxer and will be touching up this weekend, I haven’t decided on whether it will be Saturday or Sunday yet but I believe 4-5 days is more than enough time for my scalp and hair to rest after all the tugging and pulling that comes with taking out braids. Confession; I used to be a card carrying member of team take down and relax on the same day I was also an occasional member of team take down, relax and install a weave on the same day. Thankfully I stopped doing that over a year ago those are really bad hair practices that contribute to scalp irritation during the relaxing process, thinning and breakage of hair.

 

That's black tea in the measuring jug

I was due for a shampoo wash and DC on taking out my braids and decided to use this as a relaxer prep as well. Now I have had some friends tell me that they simply don’t have the time to take care of their hair at home in addition to the other chores they may have so I decided to include the other activities that took place on this particular wash day just to show how it is possible to multitask hair and other chores. I pre pooed with amla oil for 2 ½ hours and within this time I managed to clean the house, do laundry, prepare dinner, make the Chai for my rinse later (that’s tea in Swahili), squeeze in a 15 minute nap and start on my pedicure. I finished off the pedicure during the 45 minutes my hair was DCing. So you see I managed to complete all these tasks and still do my hair at home, if I had gone to a salon I probably would have spent upto 3 hours or more there and still come home to these tasks. Multitasking comes naturally to me I have never had a problem doing more than one activity at a time and completing them all. I realise some people struggle with multitasking but if you plan well and do things in order of priority then it is very much achievable.

I shampooed with ORS creamy aloe which is my chelating and neutralizing shampoo some people use it as a clarifying shampoo as well. Other than black soap which I use occasionally (it is more for my face than hair) my other shampoos all have sulphates in them which doesn’t bother me much since I prepoo with oils and this counteracts the drying effects of sulphate shampoos. I decided to give tea rinses another chance more to strengthen my hair ahead of relaxing than anything else and it wasn’t too bad this time round but I will still keep tea rinses on a need to basis, I actually tea rinsed once in braids as well.  After tea rinsing I detangled with Alberto Balsam Tea Tree Tingle conditioner, not that there was much to detangle since I did a pretty good job of that on taking down my braids, if you like mint then you will love this conditioner. I then did a protein DC with ORS Hair mayonnaise it was my very first time using it and I love it this one is a keeper. There is definitely new growth the question is has the length been retained? That’s what I am looking forward to finding out when I relax/texlax over the weekend and do a length check.

DC: Deep condition

ORS: Organic Root Stimulator 

If you are on Facebook please vote for my good friend’s cause. Use this LINK, click on the “Vote Now” button, search and vote for “Help African Refugees” you have 10 votes daily voting ends on the 22^nd April 2013. Thank you each vote counts!!!

 

Random hair musings...

These days I find myself reading ingredients on products at the BSS more so on oil blends that come in a small overpriced bottle and if they contain a lot of natural ingredients then I know I can use the natural ingredients on their own and they will work just fine. So for example If a “miracle oil” contains jojoba, olive, coconut, castor oils, something paraben, alcohol something or any other ingredient with an unpronounceable name, I know I can just mix them up at home and use.  I am a very experimental person, very open to new ideas not afraid to mix up and use my own concoctions. I only draw the line with experimenting if it poses a health and safety risk.

The term “hair mayonnaise” on almost every other deep conditioning treatment in the market coupled with extensive internet research is what led me to use edible mayonnaise to condition my hair. I just hope they don’t come up with “hair beef” or something like that! Until I started paying more attention to what goes in my hair the only edible hair products I was aware of were avocados, eggs, coconuts (grew up with this knowledge) lemons, honey and dairy products like yoghurt, cream among others that I was introduced to by friends later on in life. 

While reading up on garlic treatments to combat excessive shedding it hit me that the reason I have never had a problem with excessive shedding is due to my diet. Ok I know you must be wondering why I am reading up on a problem I have never really had, well I like to be informed that’s why. Even when I did the black tea rinse it was more for experiments sake there was no excessive shedding or anything like that going on; I am quite big on testing out theories too. Back to garlic, it has always been in my diet for as long as I can remember.  As a pre teen and well into my teens one of my weekend chores was to help out with the weekly garlic and ginger crushing which we made into a paste added a few drops of lemon juice as a preservative and stored in the fridge to use during the week. I cook almost all my main meals with garlic in them I even fry eggs with a bit of garlic so I guess my garlic infused diet is helping me from the inside out! 

Just so you know coconut oil only comes in two forms refined and unrefined also referred to as pure or virgin. The difference is that unrefined has a coconut scent  while refined is odorless. Just thought I should throw that out there in case anyone thought their virgin coconut oil was less superior to “extra” virgin coconut oil. Advertisers and manufacturers are very clever people.

While on my blog rounds yesterday I came across Mongongo oil, I had never heard of it before, you learn something new every day!   Anyway enough rambling for today till next time lovelies.

 

BSS: Beauty Supply Store

April is for Aloes…

Aloe Vera that is….

If you have been following my blog then by now you know that my first encounter with the use of natural AVJ for hair was at the onset of my consistent hair journey back in November last year, I wish I had discovered it sooner but they say better late than never right?  My hair and especially new growth absolutely loves AVJ it makes it softer and manageable. I currently have an endless supply of Aloe vera whole leaves from family, getting a plant of my own is on my to do list. I just hope it thrives I am not exactly green fingered. This is how I prepare and store my AVJ.

I harvest the leaves from the plant and rinse with water if they have sand;

Aloe Vera plant

I then proceed to chop of both ends of each harvested leaf and de-thorn them taking care not to prick myself while doing it. The process involves cutting off the thorns on either side with a sharp knife. For a tough looking plant the Aloe leaves are quite soft actually. Since the leaves are huge I chop them into big portions to make it easier to scoop out the gel. 

De-thorned and cut into chunks

I then peel off the top green layer using a knife on one side to reveal the soft white gel on the inside which I scoop out with a spoon, this gel produces the juice and it starts dripping from the first cut so it is handy to have a bowl nearby to collect the dripping juice and sticky almost slimy gel. The gel can be further blended to produce more juice if in a hurry but I have found out that left on its own it keeps producing juice. It doesn’t blend smoothly so I usually have to strain to get clear juice with no particles in it. 

Finished product: Aloe Vera gel/juice

Storage

Obviously the best way to store aloe vera leaves is on the plant and use as needed but if like me you don’t have a plant of your own yet the freezer is a good option. I just finished using my frozen stash from January last week and I believe it keeps good in the freezer for up to 6 months maybe more. The first time I made homemade AVJ I stored the leaf portions as well in addition to the gel which was a big mistake because scooping out gel from defrosted leaves is a nightmare. They get soggy on defrosting and quite challenging to work with. So the best way to store is to scoop out gel and put in freezer bags. Natural AVJ goes rancid out of the fridge in about 2 days without preservatives so it is recommended to store unpreserved natural AVJ in the fridge. I do not store braid spray mixes containing AVJ in the fridge simply because spraying cold braid spray straight out of the fridge onto your scalp is the quickest way to get a cold. And knowing me I am sure I will not always remember to take it out hours before to get it to room temperature. So I prefer to use a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice as a preservative and make weekly batches when using AVJ based braid sprays and they keep well out of the fridge for the entire week and sometimes go a few days more. There are also other preservation methods like vitamin E capsules among others.

How I have used my homemade Aloe Vera juice so far;

1.      Mixed it into my deep conditioner and used it to mix my henna as well

2.      Used in my homemade braid spray

3.     As a rinse out face moisturizer after washing my face in the evenings. I applied to freshly washed face and then rinsed out just before bedtime. It really left my face moisturised and soft. I did this daily for almost a month to help clear dark spots on my face in conjunction with other treatments and now just do it once in a while when I remember to.

4.   I mixed it into my hand and body lotion to use on my super dry legs and it helped keep them moisturized for longer. My seemingly permanent super dry legs require a whole different moisturizing routine on its own from the rest of my body.

5.      I blended it with mangoes once to make an Aloe-mango juice. Unfortunately I can’t tell you any health benefits I got from this as I only did it once. AVJ on its own is tasteless and the green leaf part is bitter so if you are making juice you may want to avoid getting any of the green leaf part in your drink.
Edited to add: I also use it as a leave in conditioner occasionally

There you go homemade AVJ very easy to make. The plant can be bought at most gardening stores or large stores with a gardening section or if you live in one of Aloe vera’s natural habitats like East Africa for example (Kenya and Tanzania especially) this plant grows everywhere and I mean everywhere as long as there is vegetation you are sure to find an Aloe Vera plant. It is more popular as a health drink in these regions than a hair product in its natural state; however local manufacturing companies incorporate it into their commercial beauty and hair products. It is both a houseplant and an outdoor plant and can be grown by propagating from another plant or from seeds. If you are visual like me here are instructions in this video and plenty more on YouTube. Other than hair and body Aloe vera also has plenty of other medicinal healing properties.  You can read more about the benefits of AVJ for hair and others on various websites on the internet.

AVJ: Aloe Vera Juice