Remember when I said your hair is your hair and that you should love it just the way it is?
Well, I meant it!

It is human though to see other natural hair textures and covet it especially when your hair is acting up.
Some people look at my hair and go,
" Oh is it a weave? No?? You are so lucky to have such soft coily hair! Mine is like an iron sponge."
Ha ha! Thank you but you have no idea how many times I have to bun, scarf or hide my hair under a weave just beause it has the consistency of that iron sponge and I have no time or patience to listen to it!
Live with me and see!!

We always put our best face, foot and hair forward and hide the flaws!
I find that it helps though when you discover that natural you've been envious of is your hair twin!
What I mean is, you go up to him/her to ask how s/he got her hair to look so gorgeous and as you guys get talking and sharing, you find out that his/her hair behaves 97% like yours!
So you start sharing regimens, tips and products!

Well, for those that may be my hair twin...here are details of my hair.
Before I start, I'll like to explain a little bit about hair textures. I may not be a hair expert but from what I've gleaned from natural hair sites (You can get more details by googling) natural hair can be classified based on:
-Curl/Coil circumference
-Thickness of Strand
-Porosity

CURL/COIL CIRCUMFERENCE
The most popular system is based on numbering 1,2,3,4 then subcategories of a,b and c.
1= straight hair
2= wavy hair
3=curly hair
4= coily/kinky hair.
For indigenous Nigerians, our hair type fall into class 4. The subcategories are
4a- kinky curly hair
4b- kinky coily hair
4c- kinky hair with no coil/curl pattern

Source: shutterstock.com

To know the true texture of your hair, check it's behavior in water.
Do you notice round spiral coils, tiny 's' coils or 'z' shaped coils?
Some people will say their hair is kinky with no coil/curl pattern but in water they'll find out they have 's' shaped coils.
I use water to test because when hair is properly hydrated, it shows its true form.


THICKNESS OF STRANDS
Strand thickness can be compared to the thickness of a cotton thread.(simplified version)
It is categorized into
- Fine ( thinner than the thread)
- Medium ( same as thread)
- Thick/coarse ( thicker than thread)

POROSITY
Porosity can be determined by taking a clean (no oil, grease, moisturiser) strand of hair, placing in water and noting how long it takes for it to sink.
Low porosity hair floats on water. People with this hair type find that their hair takes ages to dry and that hair products seem to sit on their hair without being absorbed.
High porosity hair takes little or no time to sink to the bottom. People with this hair find that their hair absorbs products easily, gets wet easily and dries out faster than the speed of light!

*This is just a simplified version of hair types and texture. For more details, please Googleit!
Okay back to my hair and possible hair twin out there!
My hair type is 4a/b in the front and 4b/c in the middle. It is fine and very porous.
How does this translate into my hair care?

Well, because it is fine, I try to limit the use of heavy butters/oil such as Shea butter, castor and olive oil when I want big hair!
 But when I want defined hair with well arranged coils or waves these are my best buddies.
Due to my hair's high porosity, I tend to get dry hair faster than palm oil stains on your white dress! To combat this, I make use of the L.O.C method.

Here are products I use on my hair right now.( I tend to change up some of my hair products depending on my hair needs, the weather, my purse and my product junkie cravings).


Shampoo:
- Aussie Moist Shampoo
Conditioner:
- Organics Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner
- VO5 conditioner ( co wash)

Moisturiser
- Africa's Best Organics Texture My Way Curl Keeper Moisturising Hair lotion ( great for unexplained dryness)
- Organics Root Stimulator Incredibly Rich Oil Moisturising Lotion
- 100% Water

Heat Protectors
- Biosilk silk therapy

Styling Gel
- Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera gel
- ORS loc and twist gel
- NappyGirl Shea Curly Custard ( made by yours truly)

Oils
- olive oil
- Shea butter
- Castor oil
- Coconut oil ( prepoo and anti breakage)
- Rosemary oil

I'm trying to reduce my products down to a few items. Looking at this list, I think I'm doing quite well....he he he....(more space for more products!)

My hair in wet twists. Gives an idea of my coil type

See ya,
Live Beautifully. Naturally.
Hadassah

Hi naturalistas,
I'm officially on day 13 of The One Month Finger detangling Challenge.
I decided to do a post to let you know what I am doing for those who have started the challenge or are about to start.
The goal of this challenge is to get healthier, breakage and split free strands by eliminating combs or brushes.
The litmus test will be longer and thicker hair.
I began this journey by trimming off splits and knots when the hair was a bit stretched from an old twist out.
Then I co washed my hair using VO5 conditioner.
After which I deep conditioned with Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Conditioner mixed with olive oil,pure unrefined coconut oil and mayonnaise. (see details below).
I never used a comb. All detangling was done using my fingers.
Here's my own regimen.

HOW I CO WASHED AND FINGER DETANGLED MY HAIR
- I parted my dry hair into six sections with my fingers and applied VO5 conditioner to each section, scrunching to totally saturate my hair with conditioner then twisting loosely.

- While my hair was still in twists, I wet my whole head with warm water and began massaging my scalp to get the dirt off.

I then took down each twist one at a time to thoroughly wash my scalp and hair from roots to tips.
-Then I finger detangled.

I did this by raking my fingers through my hair, feeling for tangles and gently separating them.
When I came across a difficult tangle, I added more conditioner and gently detangled from bottom up.
After detangling, I re-twisted the section and worked on the other sections in the same way.

- I rinsed off the hair starting with the first section down to the last, still with warm water.

- Once I completely rinsed off the conditioner, I gently removed excess water by using praying hands. That is, I sandwiched my hair between my two palms and smooshed from roots to tip.
I then blotted the remaining water using a clean big T-shirt.

- I  proceeded to deep condition my hair.
 In a small bowl, I mixed ORS conditioner with a capful of olive oil, two capsful of coconut oil and two tablespoons of mayonnaise.

- I applied this mixture all over my hair,untwisting and  re-twisting, put on a shower cap and then turbaned with a scarf and went about my normal duties.

- About 3- 4 hrs later, I rinsed my hair with cold water, blotted dry with the Tee and proceeded to stretching my hair by braiding.

HOW I STRETCHED MY HAIR.

I stretch my hair without heat by braiding, twisting or knotting my hair in sections. On rare occasions, I stretch using a blow dryer.
I do this to prevent further tangling of my hair once it's dry.
My hair tends to dry out easily and becomes brittle.
To reduce this, I make use of the LOC method popular in natural circles. I learnt it from here and it has been the best method for retaining moisture so far.

LOC means Liquid ( water), Oil ( could be olive oil, coconut oil or any oil of your choice) and Cream ( hair butter, Shea butter mix, hair moisturising lotion). You apply the products in that order.

To stretch my hair,

- I took down each twist and divided it into two.

- To each section, I spritzed with a little water (if my hair was dry).
Then I applied coconut/olive oil and later my Shea butter mix (aka NappyGirl Curly Butter) concentrating on my ends to prevent breakage.

- After this, I braided the hair ( or twist when I'm lazy or in a hurry).

By the time my hair was completely dry,it would have been stretched enough for further styling.
There you have it and here's my pictures!

Smoothing from tips....

....to roots

 

 

Twists

Then I put on a shower cap and deep conditioned using my own body heat for 3hrs after which I rinsed in cold water and proceeded to moisturise and braid using the LOC method.

Thickness of my braids. Once dried and stretched, my hair is ready for styling.

 I wash my hair biweekly and after every three or four co-wash sessions, I wash with shampoo to remove buildup and then continue with the co washing.
This regimen has helped me retain most of my length and I doubt I'll be using combs any time soon.

So this is my hair regimen so far.

Till we meet again,
Live Beautifully. Naturally.
Hadassah

EDIT: During the week, I hennaed using Kani Kone Body Art Quality Henna paste.
I just applied the henna to dry sections of my hair concentrating on the tips and left overnight...easy peasy!
 In the morning, I rinsed out with cold water and stretched as usual.

I used henna to:
a. Strengthen my hair and reduce breakage.
b. Give me red highlights.

Here is a picture of a dough hook

                Pixie dust

Chocolate chip cookies

                    Pixie dust