Tutorial: Length Check Top

I finally got round to making a length check top. It was relatively easy to make and took less than 15 minutes. To make my length check top I used:

An old plain vest top/tank top  

Marker pens/Felt pens – to draw the length check lines and numbers on the vest

Ruler – to measure the inches between the length checks (my ruler is the short 6 inch type)

Newspaper - to prevent the ink from the pens going onto the chopping board

Chopping board - because I needed a hard surface to help with drawing the lines on the vest

Document wallet - because I did not have a long ruler at home so this was a good alternative

Step 1: Gather all the materials needed on a flat surface (I used my bed)

Step 2: Using a marker pen and ruler I made dots from the neck downwards to mark two inch spaces between the lengths these dots also acted as a guideline when drawing the lines across.

Step 3: Wrapped the newspaper around the chopping board and slid it under the vest top. This would act as the hard surface; makes it much easier to draw on the top this way.

The newspaper was to help stop the ink from going through to the chopping board but I still got about 3 ink dots on the chopping board which was not too bad

Step 4: I then drew a line using a marker and the dots as a guideline across the width of the vest to mark each length using the plastic document holder as my long ruler and also numbered the lines in inches.

Drawing on fabric is not easy takes a lot of patience

And here is the finished product!!!

Stopped somewhere close to mid back length

Let's talk: Mixed Race Hair

I have mixed race nieces Arab and Black, Indian and Black and mixed race cousins White and Black in addition to my multi racial friends. I never saw and still don’t see their hair as any kind of special maybe it’s because of the environment I grew up in where all hair types were represented among my schoolmates, neighbours and friends. I never envied their hair type it was more the length. My comments would be something like I wish my hair was as long as yours never I wish my hair had your texture. The texture never bothered me it was the length I admired something which I envied on the other fully black girls who had Armpit length and beyond hair as well. So I find it strange when I hear stories of black women who actively seek out men from other races to procreate with in order to have babies with “good hair” or comments people make when they see mixed race babies. I have heard someone refer to one of my niece’s hair “at least she has good hair”. It really  bothers me when people say things like that all hair is good hair we are all beautifully and wonderfully created and are unique in our own way .

Meanwhile I touched up on Wednesday haven’t got round to taking good comparison photos yet all the shots I have are either too close or too far to make a good comparison with my April touch up photos. Will post the relaxer update once I have some decent photos I should have made a length check shirt at the beginning of my hair journey life would have been so much easier but I am going to try and make one over the weekend and use that for my length checks from now on.

So what do you think about the “good hair” statements in reference to mixed race babies? If you are mixed race have you heard such statements before from the black side of your family or from black friends?

Please visit Chantelle’s blog for some great information on mixed race hair and other hair related tips.

Longest wash day ever!

So I just had a three day wash day yep you read right three days of wash day related activities! It’s exhausting just reading that:) A normal deep conditioning wash day for me goes something like this prepoo, shampoo, deep condition, moisturise and it usually takes at least two hours or more depending on whether or not I am pressed for time. I seem to have gotten into the habit of washing in the evening and then deep conditioning the next morning something which started out of fatigue after I had taken out my braids a few weeks back and was too tired to do anything else after washing my hair so I left the deep conditioning and everything else for the next morning and it worked okay. Not this time round!

This is how my three day wash day went:

Thursday: Shampoo wash in the evening (hair was already pre pooed), t-shirt dried, and applied olive oil

Friday: the plan was to wake up really early and deep condition but I over slept and had to postpone that

Saturday: Finally managed to deep condition, after rinsing I t-shirt dried till damp and applied my leave in conditioner as I waited for my hair to fully dry so I could moisturise. Didn’t happen! Got distracted by other events and it got postponed to the next day.

Sunday: Finally managed to moisturise!

I think I will continue with the evening wash next day deep condition routine when I am really tired or not feeling the hop in hop out of the shower life and can’t be asked to do a bucket wash but try to schedule that for days when I don’t have to go anywhere first thing in the morning.

Happy September! Happy birth month to me and all the other September babies!

Travel Hair

I have never really stopped to think about how I would like to wear my hair during a trip however I do think about how to wear it at the destination. This is determined by several factors; the weather at the destination, how long I am going to be there for, what I am going for (work, wedding, vacation etc) and possible amenities that I may or may not have access to. It has never really crossed my mind to consider how to wear my hair during the journey that gets me to my destination.

Source

About two years ago I came across a lady at the airport while checking in for a long haul night flight whose beautiful head of curls caught my attention, she disappeared after checking in only for me to see her again at the boarding gate since we were on the same flight, only this time she had a scarf on her head! I honestly found it strange and all I could think of was how brave she was to wear what was obviously a night scarf in public am assuming she probably pin curled her hair or something under that scarf, she had tied it very stylishly though, the next time I saw her again was at the destination airport while waiting for our bags in the morning, the scarf was gone and her hair looked just as beautiful as it did when I first saw her at check in. Another time I was on a road trip with a colleague who tied a scarf as soon as we got into the car I asked her why she was tying a scarf and she said it was to prevent her hair from getting dusty mind you we were only going to be on a dusty road for about 15 minutes on the last leg of the 3 hour journey with the windows rolled up of course for this section. So I guess this taking care of your hair during a trip regimen is taken very seriously by some women. I need to get with the programme!

Departure lounge at Kotoka International Airport Accra, Ghana; I am not much of an airport photographing person I liked the artwork on the walls at this airport and ended up taking photos of the chairs as well:)

Speaking of flights my bestie Joy who happens to be a flight attendant/air hostess who had never worn a weave or wig her entire life was all of a sudden shopping around for wigs and weaves when she first started her current job. When I asked she mentioned something about cabin air not being good for her hair, drying it out or something to that effect. Cabin air is very dry and dehydrating for one’s entire body and even hair so if you are a frequent flyer (I consider 2-3 times or more a month frequent for purposes of this post ) or cabin crew it is a good idea to moisturise your hair before and also after a flight if possible. Deep condition at least once a week if you are able to, we all know that dry hair equals breakage in most situations. Another good idea would be to wear covered protective styles like wigs and weaves/braids in flight to minimise the drying effects of cabin air on your hair – ok this one mostly applies to cabin crew for the rest of us moisturising and wearing a scarf especially on long haul flights if you are brave enough should do just fine (do not go shopping for a special in flight wig even though you don’t wear them hahaha) unless you were already wearing a protective style with extensions pre flight but don't forget to moisturise your hair underneath the style all the same. While taking care of your hair in-flight is important our bodies are more important so remember to hydrate your body drink plenty of water and juices and walk around very important for long haul flights (I cannot stress this enough) to help with blood circulation. For more tips on how to take care of your body when flying please see this article.

What do you think about travelling hair regimens like tying a scarf or others in general?

Spot the difference?

Source: Dark and LovelySA Facebook page

Source: Soft Sheen Carson

Both product ranges belong to the same company Soft Sheen Carson.

One is branded “Optimum” the other “Dark and Lovely”. The Optimum brand came out a couple of months ago and was launched in the US the Dark and Lovely brand was launched about two months ago into the African market. I believe the reason for this is Dark and Lovely is more popular in Africa than Optimum (both are widely available) so the good folks at Soft Sheen Carson probably thought it fitting to re-launch the product under the very popular “Dark and Lovely” brand into the African market. This is not unusual in my travels I have many a time encountered familiar items (and even stores) in other countries with totally new names it is only upon further research that I found out that the products were from the same company. I haven’t tried either so I don’t know anything about the ingredients or how it makes your hair feel but if you have please do chip in.