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,
- A travel size bottle of my One Step LOC mix
- Satin bonnet
- Flower clip
- A scarf
- A hair elastic band.
No combs, no spray bottles, no shampoo, no bobby pins....no ideas on what I'd do to my hair!
Fortunately, since I've been doing the Indian Oiling Method, I've had little breakage and shedding. My hair was in tip top condition.
DAY 1
We had to get to Accra first from Logos before going to Sunyani which is 7hrs away. My hair was in about 15 chunky twists which I pulled together in a bun.
So far...so good.
DAY 2
In the morning, I took down the twists after my shower to rock what I had hoped would be gorgeous well defined twistouts.
Unfortunately, the hot sun, the wind and dryness from air conditioning had other plans for my hair and before we boarded the Sunyani bus, my hair was a bird's nest.
I decided to act like the nest was part of my plan since my LOC mix was out of reach in my suitcase....truth is I was scared of the dry hard mass my hair had become!
Luckily for me, I remembered the emergency scarf I keep in my handbag and made a band with it.
I was too fagged out to be bothered by my hair when we got to the hotel, so decided to let my hair
soak up steam from my hot shower. By the time I was through, I was able to make 6 braids moisturising each section with my LOC mix.
My hair felt better and softer.
Then I put on my bonnet and hit the sacks.
DAY 3
After my shower, I loosened the braids for a braid out and styled my hair in a bun.
I couldn't take chances on my first day at the conference!
By 10pm, I returned exhausted and proceeded to have a hot shower and allow my hair soak up steam. Then made two big braids moisturising each section especially the ends with LOC mix, put on my bonnet and hit it!
DAY 4.
Styled my hair in the same order as day 3.
One time saving trick I learnt was to style my hair after bathing and before I apply makeup or dress up. That way, my hair is a bit damp from soaking up steam which makes it easier and softer to manipulate.
Then I set the style with a scarf and take it off before I leave.
DAY 5
We toured round Sunyani on this day and since it was an informal event, I decided to do a twistout. I had to learn how to do a twistout in all weather. So, the night before, I dampened my hair, moisturised with the LOC mix and fingerdetangled. Then I made 7 twists.
In the morning after my shower, I untwisted carefully and separated making sure to follow the clumping pattern of my hair to reduce frizziness.
I must say,I was really pleased with the results. I twisted a section away from my face and held it back with the flower clip and come sun or wind or drying A/C, I'm pleased to inform you all that my style stayed moisturised. I guess my hair had finally adapted to the weather and I had moisturised my hair better than the first time I arrived.
I felt really fly with my hair! Whoop whoop!
DAY 6
This was the last day of the conference......
......... I decided to hound all the Ghananian naturalistas I'd been admiring but didn't have time to get to know.....and boy....am I glad I did!!!!
DAY 7
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,
- A travel size bottle of my One Step LOC mix
- Satin bonnet
- Flower clip
- A scarf
- A hair elastic band.
No combs, no spray bottles, no shampoo, no bobby pins....no ideas on what I'd do to my hair!
Fortunately, since I've been doing the Indian Oiling Method, I've had little breakage and shedding. My hair was in tip top condition.
DAY 1
We had to get to Accra first from Logos before going to Sunyani which is 7hrs away. My hair was in about 15 chunky twists which I pulled together in a bun.
So far...so good.
DAY 2
In the morning, I took down the twists after my shower to rock what I had hoped would be gorgeous well defined twistouts.
 |
| Before: Twistout |
Unfortunately, the hot sun, the wind and dryness from air conditioning had other plans for my hair and before we boarded the Sunyani bus, my hair was a bird's nest.
I decided to act like the nest was part of my plan since my LOC mix was out of reach in my suitcase....truth is I was scared of the dry hard mass my hair had become!
Luckily for me, I remembered the emergency scarf I keep in my handbag and made a band with it.
 |
| After! |
soak up steam from my hot shower. By the time I was through, I was able to make 6 braids moisturising each section with my LOC mix.
My hair felt better and softer.
Then I put on my bonnet and hit the sacks.
DAY 3
After my shower, I loosened the braids for a braid out and styled my hair in a bun.
I couldn't take chances on my first day at the conference!
 |
DAY 4.
Styled my hair in the same order as day 3.
One time saving trick I learnt was to style my hair after bathing and before I apply makeup or dress up. That way, my hair is a bit damp from soaking up steam which makes it easier and softer to manipulate.
Then I set the style with a scarf and take it off before I leave.
 |
| Flat twist band in front |
 |
| Then gathered all to a large twist to the side. Then I rolled the large twist and tucked in the ends sans bobby pins. |
 |
We toured round Sunyani on this day and since it was an informal event, I decided to do a twistout. I had to learn how to do a twistout in all weather. So, the night before, I dampened my hair, moisturised with the LOC mix and fingerdetangled. Then I made 7 twists.
In the morning after my shower, I untwisted carefully and separated making sure to follow the clumping pattern of my hair to reduce frizziness.
I must say,I was really pleased with the results. I twisted a section away from my face and held it back with the flower clip and come sun or wind or drying A/C, I'm pleased to inform you all that my style stayed moisturised. I guess my hair had finally adapted to the weather and I had moisturised my hair better than the first time I arrived.
I felt really fly with my hair! Whoop whoop!
 |
| The front pinned back |
 |
| Twist out |
 |
 |
 |
| Bui River. A dam was built here. |
 |
| The wind played with my hair but it still stayed fly! |
This was the last day of the conference......
 |
| Top bun |
 |
| I gathered my hair into a top bun and twisted and tucked it into the hair elastic. No bobby pins needed. |
 |
 |
| Meet Yvonne R.B. Ahmed. Mother, Wife, Enterpreneur. She's the owner of Bayabs , a Ghanaian Fashion outfit which specialises in making bags, shoes, stationary, Ipad cases, hair accessories and necklaces from African fabrics with great attention to detail. She can be reached on facebook and email on wuriya85@yahoo.com |
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| Meet Akua Ofosuhene, soft spoken owner of Freedom Country also a Ghanaian fashion outfit specialising in African themed accessories. |
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| She has been growing her beautiful locs for the past eight years. She said she started it when her son was three. She would have started it earlier but for the discouragement from members of her family but now all she gets are compliments. Who says African hair can't grow? |
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| I particularly loved this necklace with a brilliant history. The designer Madame Fulera is a female activist with a passion for the education and empowerment of the girl child. |
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 |
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| Meet Salome, the photoshy assistant registrar for the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani. Goes to show you can be natural and professional at the same time. |
Back to Accra.
I'm glad to say that my hair behaved perfectly.
I had an incident with that green hair band at the ends.
It got caught at the ends of my hair when I was trying to take it off and I had to take off an inch to avoid split ends.
Lesson learnt!
 |
| Drinking coconut juice in Accra with my friend. I liked the juice but didn't like the soft jelly like flesh of the immature coconut. Prefer my coconuts crunchy. |
So that's a few pictures explaining my absence, hope I'm forgiven....
Till I spill again,
Live Beautifully. Naturally.
HadassaH A.
12 comments
Sweet. I've never been to Ghana. Would like to at some point next year.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have a good time. Just take spf 200+ if possible. The sun is something else! Lol!
Deletei love your hair!!!
ReplyDeleteezechimereuchenna.blogspot.com
Thanks Uche! :)
ReplyDeleteLove your hair and your blog. I'm a stalker. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteA stalker....*shivers*...lol! Thanks boo and with your encouragement I'll do my best.
DeleteLooks like you had a good time and your hair held up very well. I would love to visit Ghana one day.
ReplyDeleteI did, thank God! Please do, you won't regret it.
DeleteLovely photos! Your hair looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have you back in town. I'll be mailing you shortly :)
Thank you. Waiting for your mail :)
DeleteI didn't see your blog on time; it would have been a great opportunity to meet you!
ReplyDeleteLike seriously! It would have been fun to see Ghana through your eyes...well, hopefully, this won't be the last visit.
DeleteHave a question or comment? We would love you to share!!!!