Hi people, what's been on?!

Yeah I haven't blogged in a while....I know, I know....I have been offline because Airtel network decided to be really sluggish and epileptic in Lagos!
Please techies, tell me why????

So, what was I doing in Lagos?

I was going for my first natural hair meetup ever.....and my first public speaking on natural hair related matters ever...NITC7!

So the following morning, I washed the tears from my face and went back to the stylist to complete my hair.
My scalp was sore and since I couldn't go back (take down the hair), I could only move forward (finish it up)!

I told the stylist that my hairstyle pushed me to tears and she carefully helped me to loosen the offending bits which was closer to the front of my hair.
It felt a better.....just a bit.

When she was through with the wraps, she burnt the ends with a lighter (to stop the yarn from unravelling) and dipped it all in hot water to soften it so it's less stiff.

So, the style of the week heading is not totally accurate because I've been rocking this style since the 29th of October and will be taking it down pretty soon!

Source: eBay.com

Hi people, what's been on?

These 'ember' months are usually full of social events such as office dinners, weddings, family parties, Christmas parties, red carpet events and so on.
This is a really good opportunity to get your natural glam on and do something different from your daily buns and twists especially if that event is your wedding day!

Styling your natural hair for your wedding day doesn't mean you don't need to pamper your hair as you'll pamper your skin...
You're definitely going to go to the spa, get your mani and pedi....so why not treat your natural hair too?!
Before your big day, make sure your hair is ubermoisturised. When your hair is properly moisturised, it will hold styles well, be more defined and won't frizz up easily. No one wants frizzy hair on their wedding day....or any important event for that matter!

P.S. Even though I mention 'wedding'....feel free to slot in any major event you need to get prepped up for!


PRE WEDDING HAIR CARE

1. Snip off any split ends. Cleanse your hair and scalp with a moisturising creamy cleanser. Another moisturising option for cleansing your hair is using a cleansing mask such as Bentonite or Rhasshoul clay...

2. Follow up the cleansing with a deep conditioning mask to hydrate your hair. This is a time to treat whatever hair issues you have with your hair.
Incorporate the necessary oils, herbs and natural products into the deep conditioning mask. It's your wedding, make sure you use the best. Don't skimp on quality.

3. Follow up the deep conditioning with a hair and scalp massage using stimulating and moisturising oils to trap in moisture within the cortex of the hair.
If properly done, your hair should be soft, silky with well hydrated coils.

Hi peeps, what's been on?

So.... it seems like Lagos peeps have all the fun, right???

ermm.....nope.... cos Abuja here's yours too!

While Lagos peeps will be trooping to Omenka Gallery for the Naturals In The City MeetUp on the 30th November 2013, I'm pleased to let you know that Abuja peeps will also be trooping down to Lumo Naturals Hair Salon and Spa for a day of full body massages, manis , pedis and facials including free goodies and mocktails that same day (30th November 2013) .....Awesome right?!

Hi people, what's been on?

If you're based in Lagos or around Lagos, I'm pleased to inform y'all that the NITC7 meetup is holding on the 30th of November 2013!

My favorite part of this meetup is that there'll be a product swap...
......so if you have products that you haven't used or have used less than half, isn't expired and is still in good condition, this is an opportunity to bring them and swap them for other similarly donated products of your choice!
The more products you bring, the more products you can swap in exchange....so hunt 'em down, people!

Then remember the Indian oiling method I've been yapping about and how it helped me retain length...well this method is just one part of the whole Ayurvedic hair and skin treatment methods and if this worked so well, I can't wait to learn about others....and the best part is....all the herbs you need will be made available at the meetup......so don't miss this opportunity!


Oh ....and this is the season for Christmas parties, weddings and family meet ups.....and after all the work you put into having healthy hair, what better way to show off than with glamorous hairstyles! This meetup is dedicated to showing you simple ways to protective style and look your best!

Okay, I've spilled enough!

For more information, go to naturalnigerian.com


Here's the flyer...(click to enlarge)

Happy New Month everyone! I really can't keep track of the months anymore.....where's the rush??!!

Anyways this month is going to be a spectacular month for all of you....and I feel it in my bones.....and believe me I have a lot of them!
To show that my bones don't lie, I got my first award since I started this blog......this month!


I've been nominated for a Liebster Award by the esteemed Uzoma of DontTouchTheHair.......I agree with you boo, especially if I just managed a well defined twistout, braidout or elaborate updo.....oh yeah and a sleek blowout....in fact most especially if I didn't permit you to! That touch unravels all my hard work!!!

Thank You, Uzo!!!
 Wanna know more....go here!

Adorable!

Hi peeps, what's been on?
My post today will be about a method I incorporated into my regimen to help me retain length. This post took a long time coming but I had to be sure!
My hair has been growing longer and I noticed that the older parts got dryer and were prone to breaking off easily.
Usually at this point, I'll trim my hair but since I decided to challenge myself to grow my hair waist length...just because....I decided it was time to adapt a length retention routine into my regimen.
The henna and protein treatments has helped strengthen my hair and make it less porous but it doesn't stop my ends from getting dry.
The LOC mix has proved effective in providing daily moisture but I felt I still needed more to reinforce my fine hair and make it stronger to withstand manipulation.

I decided to research on the cultural hair practices of people known to have the longest hair.......Indians!
Indians have such beautiful thick long glossy hair. With hair that long, it is naturally supposed to be prone to breakage but something in their routine must be doing a good job to preserve the length of their hair.

Sporting my fro and ankara hair flower made by me

Hi people, what's been on?
Sorry for the long hiatus. I missed blogging too!

I have been kept really busy by a conference I attended this past week and haven't had much time to sit down and share what's been happening. I had to wake up as early as 4am and sometimes didn't return till 10pm. I'm a member of the Organization of Women in Science in Developing World (OSWD) and we had a meeting in Sunyani with the theme centered around climate change and ways to mitigate the effects of climate change in Africa.....so that post about "eco-friendly hair and skincare"....I wasn't kidding....hehehe!

Anyways, I won't bore y'all with geeky chatter (if you're interested in details, send me an email) and I'll go straight to the hair gist....this'll be a hair diary of sorts....
I decided that from now on I'll rock my fro whenever I travel out of Nigeria instead of the usual braids and weave I rock by default. I don't really think about why I do this....just habit I guess.
Someone asked me a question about how my hair fares in different climates and I was like....seriously....I've not really bothered to know how....well, that's the point of blogging, right?! 
To learn and to share.....so here's my hair diary in Ghana.

WHAT I TOOK
Believe it or not, I took just ONE hair care product.
I'm that kinda gal that packs everything but the kitchen sink "just in case of incasities".
 I like being prepared for any event life might throw at me...but this time I decided to pack light.....(anyway I was told I'd carry my luggage alone.) 
Since my fro is going to be out, it was tempting to carry all my hair arsenal....but I felt that since I'll be blogging about travelling with free natural hair, the less products I take, the better.
So I packed,

Hi peeps! What's been on?
The weather is gradually changing to wet and cool with hot sunny...did I say hot afternoons....I'm confused...... and am I really talking about the weather?!!! *face in hands*
.....anyway guess who had a cold....yeap....moi...sniff sniff...and I enjoy being a baby about it....hot soup, anyone?!

I'm sure you can tell from the weather talk, I'm not exciting at the moment....lol!

Hey peeps, I'd like to introduce y'all to another beautiful Nigerian natural!

Crochet braids/weaves is a very good styling option for your natural hair that unlike weaves gives you more flexibilty with styling.
It's gentle on your hairline and easy to do yourself....like I did.

Crochet weave done by me using Expression hot water Kanekalon hair

Here are videos to help you or your stylist nail this lovely protective hair style courtesy of BlackWomenHair......she makes it look so easy!!!!

source: here

Hey peeps!

NIGERIA IS 53! WOOOHOOO!!!

Okay....I know a lot of people will say "why so excited, we aren't seeing anything to be excited about?" . Nigeria's 53, so what?

Well, truth be told, it's easy to see different things to dislike about Nigeria such as the problematic clause supporting  'Under age marriage' bill  passed.....now that's really not fair...I mean, that's the best bit of life when you're free and have no cares in the world ...why rob a child of that????......amongst other things such as corruption, poor water and power supply, insecurity, low employment rates and so on.

There is however several things I love about Nigeria.....like how the governors in several states are trying their best to make them easier to live in by implementing free education policies at pre secondary school level (though I wonder where they fished out some illiterate teachers), improving on power supply, better road network and transportation. If they keep this up and maintain them, then there'll be more things to be excited about.

Be that as it may......HAPPY INDEPENDENCE, NIGERIA!

........so....the hair talk.....of course!


There's this belief among Nigerians and other people around the world that Nigerian hair is tough, e sabi break comb well well. It's unmanageable and so not attractive!
In one word, 'BAD HAIR'.
Any woman with healthy, bouncy, long hair is simply NOT Nigerian. Period.
Any woman with long hair has a weave on.
Any woman with manageable hair is "lucky" or "is mixed possibly with Indian" or "lives in obodo oyibo" or "has Fulani ancestry" or "is using some secret potion".


My dears, the truth is BAD HAIR CARE PRACTICES equals BAD HAIR and GOOD HAIR CARE PRACTICES equals GOOD HAIR.
The Indians and Brazilians, whose hair we love so much and admire generally have good hair practices.....don't believe me?....Well, thank God for Google!!!
Now as an Independence Month special..... and this kinda being a hair blog, I'll love to introduce a new series .....*drum roll*.....called.......*more drum roll*

 "NIGERIANS' GOT GOOD HAIR TOO"

This series is to celebrate the beauty of Nigerian natural hair by showcasing Nigerians with gorgeous beautiful healthy hair that is all theirs!!!

Wonder who this Nigerian is?

......or who she is???

.......or who this Nigerian Rapunzel is?

These Nigerians will reveal their secret tips to having gorgeous hair .....and even though this is a natural hair blog, I'll also feature Nigerians with gorgeous relaxed hair!

Meet Bassey Akan..She's Nigerian with a Nigerian mother and a Nigerian father .....and yep, all that relaxed hair is hers!!!

.....and....in the spirit of Independence these beautiful Nigerian women will reveal the best parts of being Nigerian and the best Nigerian products made by Nigerians!!!!

I'm so excited!!!!




..........so sit back, relax, chew corn with coconut/ube .........and enjoy!!!!

Source: here

P.S. If you're Nigerian, think you've got GOOD HAIR and will love to show and tell....or you know anyone that does, DO NOT HESITATE TO SEND AN EMAIL TO nappilynigeriangirl@gmail.com

Guest Post by Sade Adeboye

1. Thou shalt love your hair as yourself.
Thou shalt not covet the hair type of another.Thou shalt eat wholesome foods and drink enough water to nurture hair from within.
"Garbage in; Garbage out"

2. Thou shalt keep scalp and hair clean.
Wash hair at most once a week to remove dirt and buildup which retards healthy growth. It is advisable to dilute shampoo and apply from roots to ends.

Courtesy: chichiscuisine

....and here's why I cannot exchange my kinks for straight.
Natural hair is indeed beautiful and unique...
For more natural hair styles and tips, follow me on Instagram @nappilynigeriangirl

The beautiful CEO of karoncouture.com

Toni Daley of tonidaley.blogspot.com

Source: chichiscuisine

I've been observing the excitement/awe/wonder a new natural feels when she gets to see her coils for the first time, rock her natural hair the first time and show it off in public the first time....
Then I notice as the excitement dwindles down to 'bleh' acceptance as the novelty of her natural hair wear off. She finally finds products that work for her, mastered a style that works for her and then there is almost nothing new.

I also noticed the increase in the number of women going natural.
In a mall where initially, the only natural haired people were children, you now find a lot of grown women sporting natural hair in one style or the other with pride.
In Nigeria, it's like going natural is gradually becoming a fad. I noticed a lot of natural haired teenagers in Shoprite.

The media has even taken notice and 'going natural' has become news that should be reported.
Celebrities worldwide are going natural. On social media, a recurring news or Instagram or blog update is about a celebrity revealing her natural hair for the world to see.

I, as much as the next natural haired person enjoy the newness and freshness of it all.
I enjoy the natural hair meetups, I enjoy the natural hair discussion groups and communities, I enjoy the increasing number of compliments, I enjoy the new products targeted at natural hair cropping up, I enjoy everything!

But then I know like all fads, it may come to an end.

So what happens when almost all women become natural?

It's almost weekend and I thought I'd share a recipe for making fried rice the Nigerian way.
It's one of my favorite meals because it contains fresh crunchy veggies and it's so  colorful!!!

No Nigerian event is complete without Fried Rice.
At weddings, naming ceremonies, birthday parties, graduations, just because celebrations, Fried rice has been invited to all.
Even on Sundays, where it's an unwritten rule in most Nigerian homes to cook rice, fried rice is most likely to be considered after jollof rice and rice with stew.
The bff of fried rice is almost always fried chicken or turkey.....so the complete meal is called FRIED RICE AND CHICKEN........with a side of Nigerian style coleslaw!

I don't know why but when our Nigerian mothers try to teach us how to cook, it almost always looks way more complicated than it really is.....just like those hardcover cookbooks I gave up reading long ago! LOL!!!!
" You better learn oh, before they say I didn't teach you how to cook!!!!" is the most likely thing you'll hear over your shoulders as they monitor you. LOL!!!

My cousin, Chichi is a fabulous cook and I love the fact that she makes cooking really easy! In her words ".....because cooking should be fun and not a daunting task!"
 I hear ya, boo!!!!
She has a blog chichiscuisine.blogspot.com where she shows you how to make the most complicated Nigerian and international dishes the easy way (too easy sometimes) using ingredients available in Nigeria.
 For those "oyibo" a.k.a. foreign recipes, she'll show you good alternatives to some ingredients that are difficult to source locally.

She has generously given me the permission to share her recipes with y'all on this blog....yayyy....
 NNG is not all about natural hair you know!
 I'm thinking of posting one every Thursday so you can try it out on the weekend....any different suggestion?
Also, if you have any recipes you'd like to share, do send it to nappilynigeriangirl@gmail.com with the heading "FOOD INDULGENCE".


Well, before I bore you with my chitchat, LET'S GET COOKING!!!!

Source: chichiscuisine.blogspot.com

Fried Rice

5 standard cups of rice
2 kg chicken/turkey
1 kg  Carrots
2 large Green Peppers
1/2kg Green beans
10 hotdogs
4 Spring Onions
2 Onions
Knorr cubes
Curry
Salt
4 cloves of Garlic
Powdered Ginger
Vegetable Oil


1.) Parboil your rice and set aside.

2.) Spice your meat with Knorr, Curry, Salt, and Ginger.
Cut the onions and garlic and add to the meat.
 Steam the meat on low heat till it brings out its own stock.
 When the meat is almost done, add some water and adjust the spicing to your taste. Let it cook a little more.
 Make sure you have enough stock to finish cooking the rice.

3.) When the meat is done, strain it from the stock and fry or bake.
 Return the stock to the stove and bring to a boil.
Pour in the parboiled rice and cook till the rice is done and water is fully dry.

4.) Cut up the vegetables and hotdogs. Add a little oil to a big pot and stir fry the vegetables. Spice up the veggies to your taste.

5.) Add the cooked rice to the veggies and mix well.

6.) Enjoy with a big piece of chicken or turkey ;)


Easy right????!!!!
For more recipes, go to chichiscuisine.blogspot.com

Natural hair Mother and child

Hi people, what's been on?

Well, I wrote an earlier post about the 'in between' length of natural hair growth and how to style it.
I also posted some photos I thought would inspire y'all stylewise and one statement I got recently was that
'the models in the photos I used weren't Nigerian and that it wasn't easy to make those styles in Nigeria seeing as we don't really have natural hair salons that can work with kinky hair without damaging it'.
While this is true, I think it's still not impossible to achieve some of these styles in a regular salon especially if it involves minitwists, braids and cornrows.

One trick I've learnt while styling my natural hair was to approach hair stylists that make children's hair.
This is because you're more likely to find children with natural hair than grownups and this means that that hair stylist will be at least familiar with natural hair texture.
It's still up to you to prepare your hair properly before going to the hair stylist and best results are gotten the day after your wash day.

Whenever you come across a natural hair resource site, one of the most common words are NATURAL HAIR REGIMEN!
It may seem that to be a good naturalista, one must have a regimen. I'm also guilty of recommending the development of a regimen when trying to help out new naturals but one day, I got thinking....
"Is this natural hair regimen more for us than our hair?"

It's surprising when a natural is interviewed and she says,
 "I don't really have a regimen per se, I just fill the need of my hair. If it's dry, I moisturise. I use gel on some days, nothing at all on others. I twist some days, wear my hair out on others. I don't really have a pattern" .....and when you take a look at her thick, long, healthy mane, the first thought is...
"this chick isn't telling the truth. She's hiding her regimen!"

I mean, we take time to develop a series of steps and products that we can use any given Sunday to care for our hair. Admittedly it may work out and our hair rewards us with fabulousity and health but when it doesn't, we keep spending time trying to fine tune the series of steps - some of which may take a whole day and then some - until we get the result that in "our minds" make for fabulous hair.

We develop routines for wash day...pre poo, deep conditioning, detangling, moisturising and styling etc.
We have routines for styling...wash and gos or twists from Monday through Friday and twist outs on weekends or buns from Monday through Friday and wash and gos on the weekends etc.

My point is, are these routines because we listen to our hair and know when it needs to be washed, moisturised, twisted, bunned etc or is it because the routine fits into our lifestyle so that even if our hair is moisturised, we moisturise anyway because on our "timetable" which we call "natural hair regimen" it has to be moisturised every two days etc.

We've been brought up with the mindset that everything needs rules, a timetable, a schedule, a particular order and what not.
It doesn't matter if it's necessary or not.
Some may argue that without rules, there'll be utter chaos and that's for another day.

Some of us feel the need for total control in all aspects of our lives and when things doesn't go the way we plan, it's utter chaos.
The thing is rules are good but not to the point where they rob us of our ability to really observe stuff around us and act accordingly.... but that's another day's gist!

O.K. back to hair!

Many of us do not really listen to our hair when trying to develop a regimen.
We just browse through natural hair sites, pick up someone else's routine, add one or two products and ta da! ...we've developed our own regimen.
Some of us just get out schedule books/diaries and mark out days convenient for us to wash, deep condition and moisturise.... whether our hair needs it before those days or after doesn't really matter....and when our hair fails to thrive and look as good as that naturalista's with "no regimen ", we feel like our hair is ungrateful. We feel like we've failed.

I'm not trying to say creating a regimen is a bad thing.
If it coincides with your hair's needs at that point in time, you really don't have a problem.
What I'm trying to say is do not be rigid about your regimen if it's not working for you.

Sometimes your hair just needs you to "freestyle"!

- when does it feel dry? What are my quick go to products for combating dryness?

- when does it really need a trim?
 Some say you have to trim every 6-8 weeks and we blindly fit it into the regimen.
The truth is, some need to trim less often than that and some more.
Find what works for your hair and get a random weekend to trim.

- what styles are best for my hair?
There are periods in your hair's life when it wants to take a break from twists and be a fro..some days, it just wants to be tucked in tight.
Learning one go to "out" style and one protective style that fits your lifestyle style may help in this instance.

- what products are best for my hair yet fits into my lifestyle with regards to application time,hold, shine etc. Here, you have to experiment but try to keep things simple.
 It may be just olive oil for shine, aloe vera gel for hold,  ACV for cleaning or it may be Dax for shine, Ecostyler gel for hold, Carol's daughter blah blah for cleaning.
 Observe your hair.

-when does it need washing?
 Some may need to wash as often as thrice a week and for others, once a month is fine.
Find out how you can get in a quick wash when you are on the move!

I think a regimen should favour BOTH our hair and our lifestyle to be considered successful....if you even really need one!!!!...... and creating that balance may be by simply observing your hair.

What do you think? 
Is a regimen really necessary?
 Is your regimen really for your hair or just for you?

Hi people, what's been on?

Last weekend I went for my girlfriend's sister's traditional wedding and it was really cool because I hooked up with some friends way back when.

I wore my natural hair to the wedding as usual!
My sister had braided and twisted my hair about 5 days back in a faux Mohawk style in preparation for the twistout I'd use for the wedding.

Since the weather here is humid because it's rainy season in Nigeria and my twistouts were likely to poof up, I decided to leave in the twists until the night before the wedding.
I would have taken it down in the morning but you know how weddings are especially if you slept over....a mad rush to everything!
So I took it down the night before and wrapped it to preserve it the next day.
The resulting twistouts came out fabulous if I should say so myself...hehehe and I managed to nab one fine bobo too...*wink*

After the wedding, I decided to wash my hair because of all the sweat from dancing all night.
I've taken down the style and was about to prepoo for washing when I looked in the mirror and noticed an "Aevin Dugas" like afro and it seems my hair has grown more because I was beginning to feel the weight of it (or is it product buildup?!)
Well, I decided to skip the washday and call it a fro day!
Why is it that my hair becomes gorgeous on the day I decide to wash it????

....and Kay and Toyin (you should see the rest of her styles...fab!) also sent me  pictures of their natural hair...
( I also won't mind sharing your swaggalicious natural hair do too!)
Now who says Nigerian natural hair has no swag?

Toyin's braided mohawk

Kay's beautiful fro!

Hi people, what's been on?
I've been getting messages requesting for versatile natural hair styles one can rock to the office at the same time go for a date, wedding, church....anywhere. For some reason, I can't upload video tutorials for the updos I had in mind.
So, in the meantime, here are pictures of some simple updos I think you can try out at a glance.

One secret for getting the best results is styling on old twistouts to give a bit of stretch.
For volume, I simply spray hair lightly with just water.
To smoothen edges, you can either use water, a scarf or some gel.
To keep your style in place, carefully placed bobby pins prove useful.

Maybe when I get someone to hold up the camera for me, I could do pictorials of some easy hairstyles I love.

Here's the natural hair updo lookbook and happy styling!

This is easy peasy Source: here

This beautiful one is for TWAs Source: here

Source: here