Natural Hair Products

So I've a little bit of shopping lately. Ive been looking for some new products to try on my her. Earlier this week, a friend of mine told me about a website iherb.com where she buys some of her products. So of course, I checked it out! They have a lot of natural products for hair, skin, beauty, etc. (And cheap too!) This week, I bought pure Shea butter, some more coconut oil, jojoba oil, and I also bout a Giovanni conditioner (from Walmart). Do I plan on buying anything else in the next few days? Of course! I still have to buy a new bearfruithair moisturizer, a glycerin protein treatment, and I want to try "Carol's daughter Lock Butter". Can't wait to try my new products! I'll keep you all posted on the results!

Check out iherb.com if you're interested in natural products but don't have the budget for the expensive ones!

(pictured: small-medium twist out on just washed hair with bearfruithair leave in conditioner, Cantu Leave in Moisturizer and Conditioner, and Organic Olive Oil)

Mini Twist & head wraps

Tis the season for protective hairstyles! My favorites right now are mini twists. Honestly though, I wrap my hair more often cuz in usually too busy (or just too lazy) to mini twist my hair. I did this week, and with my heavy work load, it took about 3 days! So after I take them out, my hair will go through a series of different style wraps! Be not dismayed though! There's so many types of wraps you can do. The possibilities are almost endless! I'll post some pics up now and some videos up later!

Be creative ladies!

Curl Definition

What's the secret to the different kinds of curls I've had in my hair? 1 word: WATER! Yup... It's mostly because of water.
When I make the moisturizer mix I use in my hair, I put some of my moisturizer (bearfruithair.com), some water, and then I add olive oil after (for sealing). Usually when I'm doing my hair, it's not just a little wet... It's DAMP. After my hair is thoroughly moisturized, I'll use a styling tool. Most recently I've used curl formers, I used flexi rods (that was a fail) and most often I've done either flat twits or just loose twists (depending on what look I was going for). Pics below :)

Curl formers

Flat twists

Sealing Moisture

Sealing
I used to have the mentality that water is just not good on my already nappy hair. I already knew that it shrunk my hair, but I also thought that it definitely made my hair fall out... FALSE. In reality, water is one of the BEST natural moisturizers your hair will ever find! Now? Water is a staple on my list of hair products. Plus, you find it everywhere! The only thing you have to remember is to seal in the moisture in your hair. Why? Because our hair is so porous, it takes in moisture easily, but it also loses moisture just as easy. The purpose of using a sealant (preferably something like some type of oil) is to keep your moisture in and to keep your ends alive much longer.
SN: This actually came as a surprise to me as well, but petroleum jelly is not as beneficial to your hair and we commonly think! Petrolatum, mineral oil, and lanolin products are just filler ingredients.
The best types of oils to use for sealing are coconut, jojoba, olive, and carrot oil.
ALSO! Oils do not moisturize! (Oil is hydrophobic... It HATES water & it will lock all the moisture OUT of your hair. You do NOT want that!)
So add water first (or whatever your primary moisturizer is) and then add the oil!

Tuck & Roll!

It's getting around that time...
Winter! (boooo for hair, yayy for fashion)
The thing about winter is that the cold air sucks moisture out of your hair at a faster rate than usual. Your hair need a little bit of extra protection! First and foremost: protect your ends! As I've mentioned on my blog before, your ends are just living to die. You want to keep them happy while they're still alive. How? Moisture! Your hair needs to be moisturized more, now more than ever. A very common, and very efficient way of keeping your ends moistuirized is by tucking and rolling. Any hairstyle that s going to protect your ends, and hairstyle where your ends will be tucked away is going to help your hair retain moisture and it will in the end help you retain your hair length. Some common hairstyles are: Bantu knots, hair buns (cinnabuns, twisted buns, sock buns), box braids, cornrows, twists, and any variation of up dos. All you have to remember is to take down your style (unless its your twists/'box braids, you can just apply your moisture to them as is) and add a little moisture every 1-2 days. This link here give some helpful ideas (no videos). Read the comments here.


A guiding video:

Shedding vs. Breakage

You hair will NEVER grow evenly! No matter how even you trim it, even if you do a big chop, it doesn't mater... It NEVER will! Why? Because 90% of your hair is in the active phase, it sheds and regrows, and the other 10% is in the resting phase. Your hair stays in that phase for 2 to 3 months and then it sheds... and thus begins the active phase. Unfortunately for you, it's not synchronized.


Shedding is completely natural! Your hair needs to shed in order to regrow. Every day we lose a certain (God given) amount of hair, and when you don't comb (finger combing is just fine) through your hair at least once everyday, at the end of the week it may SEEM like your hair is falling out. A lot of people say that, but really what it is is just your hair that was shed, forming clumps, waiting to be combed out. If you wanna check if you have any clumps waiting to be removed, here's a simple process:


1. Moisturize your hair with conditioner, water or moisturizer.
2. Gently run your fingers through small sections of hair. (Be thorough)


And that's all it takes! SN: try not to finger comb on dry hair because you may form knots easier.


How do I know if it's shedding and not breakage?
Mind you, breakage is totally different! If your hair is breaking, you are being far too rough, and you need to ease up on your hair! The difference is also quite simple. If you see white roots at one end of your hair strand, you can rest east... you're shedding. If not, then yeah.. ease up!


How do I prevent breakage?
The number one way to prevent breakage is to trim your hair! Split ends & dead ends are THE WORST!  You don't have to trim every single week, but if you trim off the bottom 1/2 or 1/4 inch at least once a month, you should be okay. (Granted this totally depends on how dry your scalp/hair generally is.) The hair at the ends of each strand of hair is the first to die. If you keep it well moisturized, they live a relatively long, happy life. If your hair is dry all the time, and you leave it that way, BELIEVE ME, you WILL get split/dead ends and your hair WILL break. Always, ALWAYS moisturize!
Another, very key way to prevent breakage is to reduce the amount of heat put to your hair. Keep in mind that your ends are already living to die. The addition of heat does no good to them, whatsoever. No heat is awesome, but we all (me included) love to straighten, curl, blow dry (etc) our hair. Breakage is inevitable, but it is controllable! 
Also, what you sleep on & wrap your hair with plays a part in breakage. Satin bonnets/head wraps & even a satin pillow case is preferred. You'll get reduced friction and in turn, less breakage. 
And finally, if you KNOW your ends are unhealthy, don't think about how much you're trimming, think about how much healthier your hair will be once it grows back. Your hair will LOVE you for it!


Hope this helps someone :)

Moisturizing & Deep Conditioning [Requested Repost]

Moisturizing 

Time: About 5 minutes
First of all your hair needs moisture, moisture, MOISTURE!! (Especially if you have thick, extra nappy hair). I moisturize on almost a daily basis and whenever I'm styling my hair. Right now, my favorite moisturizer is a Bear Fruit Hair product. I don't actually remember the name of it, but the website gives you the option choosing what oils, butters, herbs, fruits, and scents you want to put in your product (they also have some other ingredients). Their products are very inexpensive. You can find them here.

I also use Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner. It works as a a leave in conditioner, but you can also use it in daily styling ($6 at Wal-Mart). I use the Shea Butter as a sealant - (after I add water, I add the Shea butter to hold the moisture.) Another one of my favorites Olive Oil Organic Root Stimulator Moisturizing Hair Lotion. I use it in daily styling also.

Deep Conditioning

Time: About 1 hour
Deep conditioning is a REALLY good idea for anyone with nappy hair. I do it before I wash (or co-wash) my hair because it makes your hair softer & easier to work with. I think the most important part of this process is the heat treatment. (It's good if you could even deep condition the night before you're going to wash your hair, but doing it right before you wash is fine also.) My deep conditioner is a homemade product (Say yes to saving money!) I actually have 3 I want to try, but I've only actually used just this one recipe. What I use is called Sweet Avocado Deep Conditioner. The ingredients are: 1 avocado, EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and honey. It's very simple to mix. (Depending on how thick your hair is, you might not even need the whole avocado. Also, you don't HAVE to have the avocado. The EVOO & honey alone will do just fine.) To mix: 1) Mash the avocado until it's almost completely liquefied. 2) Pour about one spoonful of honey into a sandwich baggie. 3) Pour another spoonful of EVOO into the baggie. 4) Place the baggie in a bowl of water. Microwave for one minute. 5) Open the baggie, and pour the mashed up avocado into it. 6) Mix it with a fork until the mix looks uniform. --> AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! (All of the basic recipes listed here can be made almost the same way. If you have any questions ask me!)

*Other recipes:
Baby Banana: banana baby food, EVOO, honey
Cucumber & Egg: 1/2 Cuke, 1 egg, 1/2 and eggshell worth of EVOO.
A sidenote: As you can see, the constant ingredient is EVOO. Believe it or not, it works WONDERS for nappy hair!

The process: 1) Part your hair in four big sections. 2) Apply the deep conditioner very generously throughout your hair. After you've applied it to one section, make one big twists. 3) You can leave the hair in the twist when you do this step. Put a shower cap on your head and sit under a hair dryer for 50 minutes. (Try to tilt your head just to make sure the back and the front of your hair get some heat. This step is really important! The heat opens your pores so that your scalp really takes in the deep conditioner.) 4) After 50 minutes, take the shower cap off and wait 5 minutes. 5) After 5 minutes, wash your hair out with COLD water.

After you've done this you can just go straight into your wash. If you're doing the overnight process, stop at step 3 for the night, and pick up at step 5 the next day.

Weekend Update: Bantu Knots

 It was a last minute hairstyle... I didn't know what else to do... Turns out I loved it! It's such a simple hairstyle too! I will post a video about how to do it. Also this is the first I've done a weekend hairstyle AND kept it in for majority of the week! The only reason why I actually took it out is because my new conditioner came in (Bear Fruit Hair -- IT FEELS & SMELLS AMAZING!! Check it out here) and I really wanted to try it! Pics below :) Enjoy your hair!

Mini Twist & Twist Out

SO I finally had time to mini twist my hair (it took TWO days!!!). It came out LOVELY! i liked it so much that I did it again recently! The concept of mini twisting is really simple. I'll post some helpful videos about it on my Helpful Videos page. Pics below!

Transitioning!

The natural hair movement is ALIVE!!!!! I have so many close friends going natural. I remember wanting to cut off all my hair when I thought the transitioning thing was too much of a hassle. My parents of course refused to let me do so. I resorted to "growing it out". Of course though, today, I have to say I'm glad I was patient and waited for my napps to grow back! I have nothing against the BIG CHOP though, not at all. I support any and every woman who chooses to go natural, whatever way she chooses to do so. Here are a few of my friends in the process!


"One of the things that people don't realize is beauty is natural ..."

Hiatus...

I'm sorry for the delay!!! It's been WEEKS (maybe even s whole month!) since I last posted... I am SO sorry. No explanation as to why I neglect the blog even on my free days :( I will be posting today. I promise!!

Stay Creative!!

Weekend Updates

So I owe you guys TWO weekend updates. (I really need to work on keeping up with my 

blogs! Smh)

Anywho! The past 2 weekends my hair has been natural yet again (and by natural I mean no straightening/flat ironing).

Two weekends ago, my hairstyle didn't come out at all how I wanted it to, but it worked! I was originally going for faux 50's bang with just a pin up in the back, but the faux bangs just DID NOT work. It's okay though, because it actually came out really nice. The pin up came out better than expected (because I was originally just trying to cover up my banana clip lol) and the bang turned into a pretty pompadour-puff. It came out really nice!

The past weekend actually, I did straighten my hair and when I showered in the morn, I replace my satin head wrap with my regular scarf and the steam un-straightened (not a word, I know, but I'm still using it) my hair and it was back to natural in a matter of 20 minutes. I actually really liked how it came when I took my pin curls down, so I may do that more often - on purpose of course. On Saturday however, church was SO hot that my curls dropped faster than usual. Luckily, I snapped some pics in earlier in the morning!

Pinned up after the curls dropped.

Try something new!! :)

"...And when they appeal to you to be conventional, tell them you don't know how."