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
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!)
See ya,
Live Beautifully. Naturally.
Hadassah
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 |
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
- Organics Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner
 |
Moisturiser
- Africa's Best Organics Texture My Way Curl Keeper Moisturising Hair lotion ( great for unexplained dryness)
 |
- 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
6 comments
lovely post,but i want to ask;pls what is the difference between kinky curly and kinky coily?
ReplyDeletethé difference is the size of each curl. i use curly to describe curls larger than the circumference of your regular ball point pen (biro) and coily to describe curls smaller than that.
ReplyDeletehope my explanation was helpful?!
yes dear,it was thanks.I guess mine is kinky coily
ReplyDeleteReally your hair looking amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marisha!
ReplyDeletemy hair is 4months old. i naturally have very soft hair. like as soft as a babys hair. i use some of these shea moisture products n black jamaican castor oil. i also take onesource hair skin n nails vitamin. i really want my hair to be thicker and stronger. what else shud i use ? help!!!!!!
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