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Curly Girl Chronicles ~ 2: Sulphates, Silicones, and Stuff

Lists

CG: Curly Girl

Co-Wash: Wash with conditioner

Cleanse: Wash with a low or no sulphate shampoo/conditioner/conditioning cleanser

Low poo: Little to no sulphates, gentle cleansers

No Poo: No shampoo/ sulphate shampoo

——————————————————————————————-

So, product ingredients can be a REAL issue if you’re trying out the Curly Girl Method, or a modified version of the method. There are so many things to avoid that it can become a bit confusing. The main things you’ve got to avoid are Sulphates, Silicones, and Alcohol. 

Sulphates

Generally, you’re advised to avoid ALL sulphates but some make harsher cleansers than others. Now if you’re following a modified version of the Curly Girl Method and you are still using a shampoo to cleanse, then the second group of sulphates are probably going to be better for your hair. They are more gentle cleansers.

Some common sulfates are:

• Alkylbenzene sulfonate, 
• Ammonium laureth or lauryl sulfate 
• Ammonium or Sodium Xylenesulfonate
• Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate 
• Sodium cocoyl sarcosinate, Sodium laureth
•  Myreth, or lauryl sulfate
•  Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
•  TEA-dodecylbenzenesulfonate
•  Ethyl PEG-15 cocamine sulfate
•  Dioctyl sodium

Some mild cleansers, less drying and included in modified CG, are:

• Cocamidopropyl betaine
• Coco betaine
• Cocoamphoacetate
• Cocoamphodipropionate
• Disodium cocoamphodiacetate or cocoamphodipropionate
• Lauroamphoacetate
• Sodium cocoyl isethionate

Silicones

Silicones that are not soluble in water build up on the hair that is cleansed with sulphate-free products:

• Cetearyl methicone
• Cetyl Dimethicone
• Cyclomethicone
• Cyclopentasiloxane 
• Dimethicone 
• Dimethiconol 
• Stearyl Dimethicone 
• Amodimethicone (and) Trideceth-12 (and) Cetrimonium Chloride
• Trimethylsilylamodimethicone. 

Sulphates are needed to remove these silicones.

Note: Trideceth-12 and Cetrimonium Chloride are only considered a silcone when both are combined with Amodimethicone. (Source: Mahogony Curls’ blog: www.mahoganycurls.com)

Silicones that are slightly soluble in water and will build up on most types of curly hair:

• Amodimethicone 
• Behenoxy Dimethicone 
• Stearoxy Dimethicone.

Silicones that are soluble in water and safe to use (they are not listed with PEG in front of them):

• Dimethicone Copolyol 
• Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane 
• Lauryl methicone copolyol.

These silicones can be washed away with a sulphate free cleanser.

Alcohols

Not all alcohols are bad for kinky/curly hair, the fatty ones are ok as far as I know. 

Fatty alcohols – ok to use: 

• Benzyl alcohol
• Cetyl alcohol
• Cetearyl alcohol
• Isocetyl alcohol
• Isocetearyl alcohol
• Lauryl alcohol
• Myristyl alcohol
• Stearyl alcohol
• C30-50 alcohols
• Lanolin alcohol

Bad alcohols:

• Denat. alcohol
• SD alcohol 40
• Witch hazel
• Isopropanol
• Ethanol
• SD alcohol
• Propanol
• Propyl alcohol
• Isopropyl alcohol

I think it’s important to add that it’s YOUR hair, and I am a firm believer in doing WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. If you’ve been using a load of products and they’ve been working for you but they contain ingredients that the curly Girl Method doesn’t allow, I don’t think you should feel obligated or pressured to bin them. If you have no problem with your current routine, don’t change it unless you really want to. There’s so much info and advice out there on natural hair but most of the time these are based on personal opinions or experiences. Trying to fish out these no-go ingredients can be long and tedious and it really does eliminate soooo many products that most of us love. Having said that I’ve been using a modified version of the CG method for just under a month and I can honestly say I’ve seen a significant change in the moisture levels in MY hair. It is softer and less frizzy but I don’t follow the strict CG routine. I do own a sulphate-free shampoo, although so far I have stuck to only co-washing my hair once or twice (when I have time) a week. I think shampooing will be a monthly occurrence. 

Hope this helps!

Much Love xxx

Relax ~ Moisturise and Seal

Dry Hair

Dry Hair is a nightmare. Lots of people say dryness is easier to combat if your hair is relaxed but I disagree. It’s HARDWORK! Mainly because you can’t just grab a bottle of water to refresh/mist/spray your hair. Do that and you’ll be dealing with a load of frizz. You can’t use oils because they make your hair greasy and make the strands clamp together and tangle.

So what do you do?

I haven’t relaxed my hair since December 2010 so I can only really talk about the things I remember doing and the things that worked.

The things that worked:

• Weekly steaming/deep conditioning
• Hot Oil treatments
• Regular trims (every 2-3 months)
• Protective styling (If I wasn’t going out, my hair was wrapped and twisted up into a loose bun, or plaited into 4 sections)
• Silk scarves. I didn’t like wrapping my hair to sleep so sometimes I wrapped the scarf around my pillow, or just over my hair when I took a shower. This helped smooth my front hair and edges too. 
• De-tangling in the shower with conditioner.
• Reducing heat (less blow drying, no straightening or flat ironing)

Things that didn’t work:

• Washing and NOT following with a good conditioner
  
• Brushing dry, tangled hair
• Excessive amounts of product: too much gel, too much cream, too much spray, too much serum etc.
• GREASE <— this is what the devil probably uses on his hair. It’s garbage! Don’t put this stuff in your hair, don’t let anyone put this stuff in your hair. It’s also quite hard to wash out. 
• Leaving relaxers in for too long/chemical burns. Yes, you want smooth, silky hair, no you don’t want a nasty scabby, flaky scalp. Burn your head enough times and you’ll see less growth. 
• Wearing my hair down every day. The ends got very dry and this is when I got knots and split ends. Relaxed hair needs just as much protection as natural hair in my opinion. 

Moisture

Moisturising my relaxed hair was always a little tricky for me. I couldn’t just pile on the products and if I didn’t use anything my hair AND scalp got very dry. I changed my routine and noticed a huge difference in the way my hair looked and felt. I found a good moisturising shampoo and conditioner. I started using coconut oil and/or extra virgin olive oil for my hot oil treatments and also for my deep conditions. Olive oil gave my hair a really nice sheen and made it bouncy and soft too. Just 2-3 tablespoons warmed up, applied to wet/damp hair and scalp and covered with a plastic cap once every 2 weeks helped a lot. Mixing a little glycerine and honey into my deep conditioner helped seal in moisture too and made my hair glossy. Cold rinses are also great.

Coconut oil did the best job moisturising my scalp in between washes. It’s light, melts easily on warm skin, and a little goes a long way. I used to part my hair and smooth a little on my scalp in between washes. It stopped itching and didn’t make my hair greasy. A penny sized amount was normally enough for my whole head. 

Heat and Moisture

Now in a perfect world, we would never use heat, but sometimes you need it. Sometimes you’re in a rush, sometimes the style you’re doing doesn’t permit air drying. For a sleeker finish, a hair dryer is of course a wonderful tool. Leave in conditioners are AMAZING!!! Find a runny one, they’re lighter, less greasy, less likely to weight your hair down. Water based too. Avoid mineral oils and petroleum products. They block out the moisture and attract dirt. Use the leave in when your hair is damp, or if your hair is dry and you’re about to style.

A heat protectant is also a good product to invest in. Alternatively, you can just use an oil. Olive oil was always my go to staple. Hair gold. I would pour a penny-sized amount into the palm of my hands, rub them together and run my hands down the hair shaft focusing on the ends. This protects against heat and helps seal in the moisture. If you don’t want to dry your hair out, don’t blow dry for longer than necessary, once a section is dry, move onto the next one.

A lot of the things I’ve said here are tips that women with natural hair can use too. It’s been a while since I did a ‘Relax’ post and since the blog is all about GOOD hair, it’s important to include everyone

Sooo that’s all I have to say. Do you have any tips or methods for moisturising relaxed hair? How do you keep your hair moisturised? What works for you? What doesn’t work? Fill me in!

Ohhhhhhh before I let you go,

New youtube video: 

Ciao for now

xxx

Curly Girl Chronicles ~ 1: The good, the bad, and the curly

Beginning

My thoughts on the CG method? It is NOT a method constructed for coarse/kinky afro textured hair. Having said that, it’s not a bad method. I think the best thing to do is modify it to suit your needs. 

Things that haven’t worked for me and why:

• Finger de-tangling: If your hair isn’t thick, this probably isn’t an issue, but if it is, my friends you will be in the shower for a WHILE getting rid of those knots. I naively thought I’d just co-wash, run my fingers through my hair and be out of the shower in 10 minutes. Then I woke up from my dream and realised that in real life I have black hair, and that is just not how things work. 

Solution? The wide tooth comb is your friend! If you have very thick/coarse hair that coils up when wet and tangles as it dries, unless you have a lot of time on your hands, some sort of tool is going to be needed. A plastic wide tooth comb has really made a difference with me. Separating my hair into 4 sections was also helpful. I clip the sections up and de-tangle them one by one. Once separated, I run conditioner over my hair, and GENTLY work the comb through the strands starting from the very tips and making my way up. When I do encounter knots and tangles, I use my fingers to separate them. 

• Daily Wash and Go gel cast: Obviously when I wet my hair it curls up and shrinks. When it shrinks it has time to tangle. If it dries as it is shrinking and tangling, I have a big problem on my hands. The conditioner method does not rid me of all of my frizz. The gel is meant to help with that but eco styler gel and conditioner do NOT go well together. The 2 times I have tried to use the products together I’ve ended up with thick, lumpy, white build up in my hair that looks like cous cous or mushy rice. Brushing it with a soft brush turns the mush into a white filmy powder which isn’t any better. The only alternative is to rinse everything out and use one or the other. 

Solution: You pick the product you want to use. I’ve found that using an oil or butter on my hair first and THEN applying gel helps with hold and curl definition. I can’t use the gel and conditioner together so I pick one. A more general point about the gel is that it does harden and no amount of scrunching (squeezing the curls) will provide the softness and bounce that I get when I DON’T use the gel. 

• The Night time routine: If you don’t have long hair or even medium hair, then the pineapple (putting your hair in a loose pony tail on the very top of your head) is a problem. There isn’t really a clear suggestion on what to do with short hair. 
  

Solution: I apply conditioner to my hair at night, cover it with a shower cap every other night, and wet/rinse it in the shower in the mornings. On the days when I don’t do this, I have decided to plait my hair into 10-12 plaits (this takes about 30 minutes) using my whipped shea butter mix as a moisture sealant. On the days that I do this if I’m not going out I keep the plaits in, if I am I take them out and rock a braid out. Shea butter works wonders for my braid outs. It leaves my hair soft and shiny and provides a lot of definition and reduces frizz. 

“Curly” girl?

I also feel like the name alone makes it quite an exclusionary method. The needs of women with black and afro textured kinky/coily hair are not really considered or talked about in detail. The aim of the method is to moisturise and define curls but not everyone has curly hair. If the method is meant to be for anyone who doesn’t have straight hair, then those with neither straight nor “curly” need to be guided as well. Obviously this is just my opinion, and I’m sure some people disagree. How many black women have corkscrew or spiral curls all over their head? Now there is a section in the book for women with kinky/coily hair but even the model they use has fairly loose curls. The section doesn’t go into much detail and the method/tips aren’t that different to the ones given to women with big, loose, bouncy curls. There also isn’t much information of guidance for transitioners. So if you’re considering this method, do your research and don’t be scared to make alterations if you get better results from them. 

What do I like about this method?

1. It moisturises the hair. This method is all about moisture. Moisture moisture moisture. ~ “frizz is a curl waiting to happen”
2. Once you’ve mastered and modified to suit personal needs, I’ve found my hair is a lot softer and less frizzy.
3. It is an inexpensive method, less products used means less money spent.
4. Less time consuming. Once you’ve got a routine set out, it’s simple and doesn’t take up as much time. You need to give it a few weeks though. 

So what am I doing? I’m doing what works for me. I am de-tangling twice a week with a wide tooth plastic comb in the shower with conditioner. I am protective styling. I am sticking to my braid out and twists out. I am doing wash and gos once or twice a week. I am deep conditioning every weekend. I am waiting to see what happens!

Oh, by the way…

I realised yesterday that the reason I was experiencing a little dryness is because after I did my last sulphate shampoo, I used a silicone conditioner for my deep conditioning treatment. Chances are the silicones left in my hair have been blocking the moisture so I have to shampoo my hair this weekend and make sure that ALL of the products I’m using are silicone free.

That’s all for now!

xxx

Curly Girl – My method

The Curly Girl Method

Check out MahognayCurls’ blog for more info: www.mahoganycurls.com

So I remember mentioning that I was going to give the CG method a go. I was a bit reluctant initially because I saw it more as a method for naturals with a looser curl pattern/type; 3a,b and up. Although I’ve been following the method (loosely) for about 3 week now, in many ways I still think it is probably most effective in the type 3 and 2 hair. This is not to say that I haven’t seen any positive results in my slightly kinkier hair. My main problem was that my hair can get very dry. It’s mainly the tips and the sides (the kinkiest hair on my head with the tightest coils and curls). When they get dry they’re crunchy and recently it has just been an uphill struggle trying to keep that hair moisturised. You know that crispy noise hair makes when it’s really dry?? Like a crunch noise? Yeah… I had a lot of that going on. Not good…. 

So I turned to the CG method. It appealed to me because of the no sulphates, no silicones element of the regiment. It’s all about moisture; moisturising, and re-moisturising. Sulphates definitely dry out my hair and no amount of pre-pooing or hot oil treatments is ever able to re-gain the moisture lost after a sulphate shampoo. I also noticed that silicone based products provided loads of slip which made styling and de-tangling better and easier, but created a lot of build up on my scalp and in my hair making it dull and heavy. So now it’s silicone free conditioners, sulphate free shampoos (not actually part of the CG method but I’m not ready to go cold turkey with the shampooing, gotta keep my hair and scalp clean!). I’m also not sure about the no-combing or brushing rule either. Brushing I don’t particularly care for. The denmen brush really is a miracle worker in terms of de-tangling, but it still breaks my hair and it also shrinks up like a *****! The curls are defined but 5-6 inch curls become 2inch curls and I’m not about that life any more. Not everyday anyway.  Combing with a wide tooth comb isn’t such a problem. So the brush has been shelved for a little while. I’m still combing for now, maybe I’ll cut that out eventually. We’ll see. 

Products are a little tricky. My Shea moisture is still there for deep conditions once a week although I skipped mine last week (very bad). Being a product junkie means I want to try anything and everything I see or hear about. I’ve slowed all the way down with my product  obsession. Trying out new products is great and it’s good to see what works for your hair and what doesn’t but I’ve noticed that every time I branch out to try new products, I end up returning to the basics. I get the best results from just using water and a good leave in conditioner as well as an oil or butter to seal (in the moisture). At the moment I’m spraying my hair with water morning and night, and using TREsemme  naturals silicone free conditioner as a leave in. Yes, normal rinse out conditioner as a leave in. I saw a few videos with ladies using the product like this and I was shocked, but I decided to try it out and I like it. I add a little extra virgin olive oil to my conditioner though. I use Shea butter to seal. I have a Shea butter and cocoa butter whipped mix but as I’m away from school where all my things are, I’ve had to work with what’s available at home. Shea butter feels great in my hair. I can’t explain the science behind it, and this probably isn’t what actually happens but it feels like it literally penetrates each cuticle and strand of my hair. It leaves me hair soft and shiny and my braid outs and twist outs always turn out better when I use it. They tend to last longer too. I’ve also been using 3 of the Naked 97% natural product line I found in Boots.

• The miracle Worker leave in conditioner – Smells like marzipan which I don’t like, does an OK job at moisturising: 5/10.
• Naked Rescue Intensive Care Conditioner – frizzy, damaged hair. I used it to co wash a few times this month. This is nice and creamy but once again it’s not the best conditioner I’ve ever used 6/10
• Naked Gorgeous Curls – curl taming cream – This stuff was good. It really did define my curls, it even reduced frizz, it made my curls bouncy too. BUT when used with the leave in conditioner I ended up with a white film/build up on my hair which I wasn’t happy about and it also did very little in terms of adding or sealing in moisture 6.5/10

Gels are recommended for the CG method too but I’m still not too keen on them. I’ve had my Olive oil eco styler gel since last year and I’ve barely touched it. It’s actually a pretty good product; provides hold and definition, but I’m just generally not a huge gel fan. It was fine when I still had my TWA but I feel like it’s just not necessary now. 

The CG method also means no heat. I’m a bit bummed because I just bought a new hair dryer with a diffuser which I was really excited about but I’m sure I’ll get over it. In a few months I’ll play around with it. My hair needs a trim too. I have been stalling and trying to put it off but I need to do it soon before I have a critical situation on my hands. I’ve ordered the CG handbook, I’ll read it and review it at some point next month I think.

That’s it for this update. I think I’ve rambled enough today.

Hope everyone is good!

Ciao for now

xxx

Hello again.

Howdy y’all,

 

It’s been a while. I never got round to finishing the ‘March the month of ‘Good Hair’ series, I had a few contributions that I’d like to share and showcase. Both natural and relaxed

I will continue the series. I’ll just be re-named ‘Good Hair’ from now on and I’ll try to keep it as a running theme.

I also need to do an update on how the curly girl method (or my spin on it) is working for me right now. I’ve had a few hair mishaps and I thought it might be good to share those too to help some of you avoid making similar mistakes!

As always, leave questions in the comments if you have any, and I’ll be back soon with some proper hair updates.

 

Much Love

 

xxx

 

Stagnation.

Why isn’t my hair growing?

Hello!

So I’ve noticed that since the last lot of kinky twists I did my hair hasn’t been growing at it’s normal rate. It isn’t breaking any more but it’s definitely not growing as quickly as before. This is both annoying and frustrating. But it is my fault….

The Kinky Twist Saga

The last time I did kinky twists, last month, my ends suffered. It was meant to be a way of protective styling my hair so that I could focus on school work and not have to worry about doing my hair everyday but I became neglectful and didn’t do the things I knew I should be doing; spraying it with water, moisturising my scalp, deep conditioning etc. I got lazy. Very lazy. I guess I kind of took the process for granted. Seeing how much my hair had grown in the past thanks to the twists made me a little complacent this time. My ends started to stick out of the twists and rather than moisturise or re-twist them, I ignored them until they were so dry they were practically crumbling away. I didn’t spray my hair with water daily and, I didn’t put a silk scarf over my pillow to protect my edges either. These are things I would normally do. My ends were frizzy, frazzled, and rough. When it became unbearable, I did start to re-twist them, however I realised then that the damage was already done and a few days later I ended up taking them out. Check out the video below to see how I took out and re-twisted them. You can also see just how bad the tips were. I’m not exaggerating. They were really bad…

Recovery

Now that the twists have been out for a few weeks I’ve been doing everything I can to re-gain the moisture and softness I lost. It’s not really working. Well, it probably is, but I’m yet to see satisfactory results and it’s a little disheartening. I’m co-washing 1-2 times a week (I’m going to cut down to once a week I think) and deep conditioning with a steam cap once a week. I’m spraying my hair with water every night and applying a leave in conditioner too/moisturiser too. Hopefully if I’m patient I will see the desired effects on my hair in a few weeks. The ends are still quite brittle and may just need a trim now. I’ve noticed that my hair tangles more than before too. This may change once the ends have been snipped off. Obviously, when my hair is freshly washed it shrinks and this can create the illusion that your hair isn’t growing, so I’ve kept that in mind. But even stretched I feel like my hair should be slightly longer than it is now. 

Frizz, Curly Girl, Growth

I am determined to fix things. My hair was growing at a pretty decent rate before, and I want to get back on track. This means being a little more diligent with my hair care regimen and selective with the products I use. I stopped protective styling at night for a while. I’ve reverted back to my old routine of twisting or braiding my hair at night before covering it with a satin bonnet or a silk scarf. It’s a little more time-consuming but if it helps, I’ll do it. I’ve started using castor oil on my edges which were thinning slightly as the kinky twists were WAY too tight at the front. I’ve also whipped up a Shea butter, cocoa butter, almond oil and olive oil mix that I use sometimes at night as a moisturiser. 

Another pressing issue with my hair is the frizziness! My hair is VERY curly but also VERY frizzy. It’s annoying and makes it more prone to tangling and dryness; both big NO NOs when you’re on a hair growth journey, so I started researching solutions to my frizz problem. I stumbled across ’The Curly Girl Method‘, I’d heard of it before but never really looked into it.  

Here’s a proper explanation of this hair care method: The Curly Girl Method

The gist of it is this:

• Stop using sulphate shampoos
• Co-wash
• Rinse with cool water
• Switch from brushing to (wide tooth) combing [With conditioner in your hair]
• Trim every 6 months
• Switch to silicone free products [Silicones provide more slip on your hair, but many can only be washed out using a sulphate shampoo. So if you're cutting out sulphates, you have to cut out silicones]

I’ve done one last sulphate shampoo to cleanse my hair and now I’m switching to sulphate free. I’ve also found silicone free conditioners and leave ins, and of course I still have my whipped Shea butter mix The shea moisture deep treatment masque is still my deep conditioner and styling cream. I love the way it makes my hair feel. Really really soft. Hopefully I can get back on track now and I will be able to see more progress and growth. My diet hasn’t been great recently either; not enough water, not enough vitamins, not enough fruit, not enough vegetables and these are all contributing factors. My workout regime has started again too. So I’m basically back to looking after myself, my body and my hair. I hope it works! I know it will, but I hope it works quickly. 

I’ll make sure I keep you posted!

Much Love

xxx

March the month of ‘Good Hair’ ~ 1 Year Natural: @Mya_Yoyo’s Hair Journey

The Root Awakening

My decision to go natural was a big shock to most people myself included. I’m one of those #WeLoveEmFAKE girls, back then I wouldn’t be caught dead without a weave or some sort of hair extension.  I loved my hair long and FAKE!

Fortunately I have never really had issues with my hair, growing it has never been a problem. I got my first relaxer at age 10 it was my present for passing common entrance. At its longest my hair was 15 inches long but I took the length for granted.  Young and foolish, 16 at the time I got it dyed cooper and of course did not know how to look after it. It kept falling out till I finally chopped it into some sort of Mohawk style.

I rocked the style for about a week and stopped leaving my hair out after that. I went from braids to weave to weave to braids ……

My natural hair and I were not friends.I did not feel that I looked
attractive with it.

Thinking back on it now I must have been stupid because…

relaxed or not my hair was beautiful lol *SIGH*

Soooooo…

Why would a superficial person like me decide to go back to the basics???

YEARS after the dye mishap my hair started to pick up shape and it slowly began to return to its former glory (this wasn’t because I looked after it btw). IT was at this point that I made my decision to go natural, it was sometime in June 2010.  I saw a family friend’s hair and I feel in love with it.  I felt like I had nothing to loose I had gone through the long hair phase and the short hair phase & I still wasn’t confident enough with my real hair anyway & I always hid it beneath extensions.  To me going natural felt like it would be the solution to my real hair issues and I knew it would bridge the gap I had created between my locs and I.

Too my not so surprise it did just that! I fell in love with my hair!! We developed an actual relationship and it became my baby. I was aware that I looked a bit awkward, and it was going to take some getting used to, but I flaunted the hair proudly & I couldn’t careless what anyone thought.

THE BIG CHOP

I refused to cut my hair immediately, it was summer I wanted to set p (lol), there was no way I was going to be walking around Nigeria Bald! Lol! So I used the holidays to think about it and research natural hair, this was my chance to be born again. “If I’m going to start from the root I’m going to do it properly”. TRUST ME natural HAIR PORN is the BEST motivation EVER!!!!!

My last relaxer was in November 2010 and I did my big chop on the 13th of March 2011. I transitioned for four months, although I cut a few inches off after my last relaxer, I don’t have any tips on transitioning because I did braids in January right before I came back to England and the day after I took the braids out was the day I chopped my hair off. It was a liberating experience, I mean I will never cut my hair again but to my surprise I felt brand new and pretty damn good.  This marked the beginning of a new phase, new chapter of my root awakening.

Having a TWA is just the beginning, that’s the easy part trust me; well once you get over the initial shock of being BALD! ( I wore a wig for every big event for a while lol )
Waking up, jumping into the shower, whacking some eco styler and oil on wet hair.  3mins max on your hair and you are out.. I miss that ☹. 

I loved my twa days getting to know your hair is fun, you become a product junky and no amount is too much so long as its for your hair and it natural. My shelf was a little potions shop, I had every oil under the sun; from coconut to sunflower.

THE REGIME

IN My twa days I started out doing the MOST!! Everyday I tried a new oil, new conditioner, new treatment; it was ridiculous I’m surprised my hair did not fall out.

But eventually I stuck to these products:
•       Original source mint conditioner (co washing)
•       Aussie leave in conditioner mixed with a table spoon of coconut oil
•       Black soap (shampoo and clarifying)
•       Coconut oil (seal)
•       Whipped Shea butter mix (coconut, glycerin, castor, Shea and tea tree oil)
•       Jojoba oil and honey for deep conditioning
•       Organics hair mayonnaise conditioner
•       Eco styler

As my hair grew, the region & climate changed I had to get rid of some products/start using some additional products.

My current products:
•       I use giovani eco tea tree conditioner to co wash/deep condition
•       Hello hydration to co wash
•       Black soap (clarify)
•       Kera care natural textures shampoo
•       Black tea (rinse for strength)
•       Sweet almond instead of coconut (coconut started to dry my hair out)
•       Water and glycerin mix
•       Castor oil
•       Grape seed (heat resistant)
•       Honey amla shea jojoba and herbal mix for deep conditioning
•       Organics twist and loc gel
•       Kera care curling cream

Do’s and Don’t s

I don’t use any leave in.
I do shampoo my hair once every two months.
I do deep condition once a week when my hair is out.
I do hot oil treatments instead when the braids are in.
I do seal in the moisture every other day

 Hairstyles

I’m a bit boring with my hair, a wash n go girl. I try to leave my own hair out for at least two weeks every month after that I go back to protective styling which is usually in form of braids or Ghana weaving. In my experience the best braids for growth are kinky twist but I don’t like them much (I only did them once tbh)…

While my hair is out, my signature look is the wash n go, simply because I cant b bothered and I quite like the 70’s look.

I tend to dress around my hair (lol). 

I also do twist and braid outs, however because of my curls my hair tends to tangle a lot when I twist it hence the reason I don’t do it so often. I have done sister locs with my hair twice before, these are temporary dreads. I did them to keep me from manipulating my hair so often.

Team Natural for Life?

I Never planned to be natural forever, I wanted to rock a fro for 3-4years then go back to the creamy crack. But right now I’m not so sure, I can’t see myself getting it relaxed
in the next 10 years….

I can’t stress how much I love my hair,

how much I love watching it grow,

how much I love fiddling with it and how much. 

I love discovering new things about it.

Despite this I hate the fact that it fizzes up,

dries out and tangles so easily.

Who ever said natural hair was Low maintenance is a LIAR!!!

I have never in my life put so much time and effort on my hair. Only thing  natural hair has over relaxed are the not so frequent trips to the hairdressers. You have to become your own stylist whether you like it or not. I was never one to really look after my hair so you can imagine my shock when I realized that, it’s a full time hands on job on your part. I am still not used to it but its one of those sacrifices you have to make for good healthy hair I guess.

I wish I had more pictures but I’m still getting used to the whole “real hair” thing so I don’t take much pictures when my hair is out….

Yoyo

March the Month of ‘Good Hair’ – Dry/Itchy Scalp

Can’t think of many things worse than an itchy scalp…

Patting, scratching, itching, rubbing, it’s a nightmare. 

Now I’ve found that most of the time if my scalp is dry/itchy it’s down to one of 3 things, sometimes all of them:

1. Dirty Hair/Scalp – When was the last time you washed your hair? If you scratch your scalp and your hand smells funky you need to hop in the shower! Often your head gets a little itchy because it’s DIRTY. Make sure you wash your hair and cleanse your scalp regularly. You need a clean scalp to promote healthy hair growth. If you use a lot of products, chances are you’ll need to wash your hair more often. If you work out a lot you’ll need to wash your hair more often too. The salt in your sweat will dry out your hair and scalp. Build up clogs your pores and who wants that? You need to make a conscious effort to ensure that you have washed ALL product out of your hair on wash days. Gently rub your scalp in circular motions with your finger tips, and rinse. My advice is to repeat this 2-3 times. Being thorough is key because a dirty scalp and lots of itching will lead to soreness and tenderness. So before you start panicking, make sure your hair is clean. If you have braids/extensions in your hair, you could try cleansing your scalp with apple cider vinegar. Some people use white spirit, but it will dry the hell out of your hair! Another way to avoid a dirty scalp is to try to make sure that when you are using products, you’re applying them to your HAIR and not your SCALP. I’m probably stating the obvious but I know it’s something I often forget.
2. Damp Hair – This is more of an issue for natural women than women with relaxed hair because generally speaking, relaxed women dry their hair immediately after washing it, and it tends to stay that way. Natural hair needs plenty of moisture, which often entails using/spraying lots of water on your hair. Now this is great for your HAIR, but it can irritate the SKIN. Imagine if the skin on your arm was always wet, or left all day under a damp towel. Chances are your skin would start to itch a little bit. I sometimes forget that my scalp is just hairy skin. So make sure you’re not sleeping with soaking wet hair, it’s not going to do much for your scalp.
3. Lack of moisture. I have dry skin. I moisturise my body everyday. Sometimes at night too. So why should my scalp be any different? This point probably sounds like a bit of a contradiction to the first two, but it’s not. Well, maybe it is a bit but well, black hair is complicated like that I guess. So anyway, I use coconut oil to lightly moisturise my scalp 3 times a week. It prevents dryness and flaking and coconut oil naturally has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties which is great. I like the way coconut oil smells, used in moderation it isn’t too greasy and provides instant relief from itching. I used to use castor oil but I found it a bit too thick and gloopy for my scalp, that’s just me though.

Dandruff

Dandruff is probably the most common, or should I say well known cause of dry itchy scalp. It’s horrible and annoying, and it can be embarrassing if your scalp is flaking.

The thing about dandruff is it can be caused by a lot of things; stress, genetics, puberty, change in seasons, too much oil in the skin, fungal infections to name a few. Please note: DANDRUFF IS NOT CONTAGIOUS!

Symptoms:

• White or grey dry flakes of skin on your scalp and in your hair.
• The flakes are often noticeable and sometimes fall from your scalp on to your shoulders.
•  Tight, sore or slightly itchy scalp

In my teens I got dandruff a lot. I used Head and Shoulders shampoo and conditioner. It worked BUT it dried out my hair… and that was when my hair was relaxed so I can’t even imagine the effects it would have on my natural hair now.

Medicated shampoos (shampoos that contain specific anti-infective and antifungal ingredients to treat conditions affecting the skin and scalp) that contain the ingredients (Zinc pyrithione/Salicylic acid/Selenium sulfide/Ketoconazole/Sulfur/salicylic acid combined with sulfur) are effective in treating both skin conditions. You can buy them over the counter in pharmacies.

Deep conditioning may be problematic for some people when treating dandruff, so try using Shea butter instead of your normal deep conditioner, also try doing hot oil treatments with coconut oil and vitamin E oil.

Dry/itchy scalp can be a nightmare, but it’s not the end of the world and unless you have a more serious skin condition, it is manageable!

Hope this helps,

Ciao for now xxx

9 Months

So it has been a whole 9 months and 4 days since I did my big chop. I’ve taken out my kinky twists. My hair was starting to stick out at the ends and it made my tips very dry and brittle being exposed like that for so long so I’m thinking I may need a trim next month. I will definitely be going to a salon this time .

I have made some changes in my routine and regimen. I have started doing a mid-week co-wash and I deep condition on the weekends too. I try to moisturise my hair every morning and every night. The ends are pretty frazzled so I’m paying a lot of attention to them. I’m spraying my hair with water, (I will invest in some glycerine again soon though), and then using leave in conditioner. I made a Shea butter, cocoa butter, almond oil and olive oil whip the week before last. I use it to seal in the moisture on my hair and skin. I chose to use Rosemary oil as my essential oil. I’ve also gone back to using Africa’s Pride Organics Olive Oil leave in Conditioner, the result so far have been so-so. I don’t feel like it’s really being absorbed into my cuticles. It’s just kind of sitting on the ends, but it does provide plenty of slip, and when I use a denman brush over the ends, the product definitely makes my curls pop.

I’m back to rocking braid outs and twist outs for a few weeks. I find that braid outs give me a lot more length, but I prefer the definition and the way the curls sit when I do twist outs. Especially if I’ve flat twisted from the roots and then continued with a normal twist. I’ve been using the Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque as my deep conditioner and also as a styling cream. No complaints yet. It works for me, so I’m sticking with it. I’ve found that it helps to reduce some of the frizz.

At night, My hair is either in a puff covered with a silk scarf or satin bonnet, or it’s in 8-16 braids to stop it from tangling. I’ve been experimenting with styles, so I’ll be sure to do a post on them soon.

I’ve got a few more posts to put up for March the month of ‘Good Hair’ although it’s late…

Hope you’re all well,

Much Love

xxx