Deep Condition | Part 2

June 29, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 0 Comments

Here comes the second article in the deep condition series. If you missed the first article, you can get all the scoop here!
When it comes to buying a deep conditioner choosing the right one really matters. There are lots of brands out there and it could get quite confusing to make the right choice.

A deep conditioner that’s beautifully packed or one with the nicest fragrance doesn’t always equate a good one. We also do not want to splurge on a deep conditioner, only to find out it’s not as effective do we?

I’ve found that the trick to identifying a good product is by looking at the ingredients list at the back of the product. I first scan through for ingredients that may  not be good for my hair before looking for the goodies that could penetrate my hair shaft so as to get the desired effect. For the sake of this post though let’s start with the goodies!

Basically a deep conditioner should contain ingredients that falls under these categories:

• MOISTURIZERS

Water/Aqua is the first ingredient you should find on the list and it’s the most moisturizing of all moisturizers. Other moisturizers include: Aloe Vera, Panthenol, Glycerin, Fatty/Moisturizing Alcohols (Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Lauryl Alcohol, Myristyl Alcohol)

• CONDITIONERS

These ingredients help condition the hair, making it easier to detangle and comb through. Examples of some common conditioners: Amodimethicone, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetrimonium Chloride, Propyl Glycol Dicaprylate, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine.

• HYDROLYZED PROTEIN

The word “hydrolyzed” simply means the protein molecules has been broken down to smaller particles to make them more penetrable. A protein deep conditioner should contain one or more of these proteins: Hydrolyzed Keratin, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Hydrolyzed Wheat  Protein, Hydrolyzed Oat Protein, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein.

• SEALANTS

Deep conditioning treatments don’t last for a long period, sealants are required to help make the hair stay strong and moisturized for a while. Your deep conditioner may contain some of these sealants: Lanolin, Shea Butter, Phenyl Trimethicone, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil.

While there are tons of other ingredients contained in a deep conditioner, I tried not to go all chemistry on you and summarized it as best as I could. Never been a fan of chemistry anyways.
At the very least, the next time you go deep conditioner shopping you’ll have this trick up your sleeve.

Upcoming post! The next post under this series will be the ingredients you should be wary of.

Until next post.

xx

Uloaku.

Natural Hair Tip #6

June 28, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 0 Comments

Deep Condition | Part 1

June 27, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 0 Comments

Transitioning? 8 Things You Need To Do

June 22, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 0 Comments

Transitioning your hair back to your natural roots doesn’t have to be a rough process. A smooth transition can be achieved with minimum frustration, if you do right by your hair.

1.     Start By Saying Goodbye To Chemicals
Giving up chemicals that permanently change the natural curl pattern of your hair or negatively affect it by causing breakage is a must. Relaxers, texturizers, dyes and the likes should be avoided.

Tip: Well, you might have told yourself that you are definitely going to stay away from these chemicals but you still have them laying around somewhere. It’s best to either give them away or throw them out, so as not to give into the urge on some frustrated bad hair days.

2.     Reduce Heat Usage
Minimize the use of blow dryers, flat irons etc. Throughout my transitioning process, I stayed away from heat styling and this made my hair really healthy. The only heat I used was body heat (using plastic cap) when deep conditioning. Try air drying all of your styles instead, in order to maintain healthy hair by significantly reducing breakage.

Tip: Occasionally using heat won’t do much damage, if you take good care of your hair during this process. Endeavour to use appropriate heat setting for your hair.

3.     Treat Your Hair With Care
The weakest part of your is the line of demarcation (where the natural hair ends and relaxed hair begins). You have to be gentle with it. Take time to detangle. Do not over manipulate. Keep your hands out of your hair!

4.     Wash Hair In Sections
Keeping your scalp clean is great for hair growth and washing/co-washing in sections is the way forward. This may sound really time consuming but trust me it will save you a lot of breakage and shedding.

5.     Deep Condition Often
This is very important if you want to properly nourish those strands of yours and keep them healthy. It’s crucial to balance your hair with moisture and protein. Moisture deep conditioning restores internal hydration and provided intense moisture to the hair. I do mine on weekly or bi-weekly basis. You also need to restore the protein in your hair that you loose through manipulation. Your hair needs protein replenishments in order to maintain its strength. I did my protein treatment every 3 months and it worked for my  hair.

Tip: It’s all about balance for hair moisture and protein. Try experimenting with application intervals. Protein conditioning can be done between 1-3 months. Adding too much protein makes hair brittle and too much moisture makes hair limp. Find out what works best for you. Deep conditioners should be applied in generous amount to get optimal benefits.

6.     Keep Your Hair Moisturized
This is the key to combating dry hair. Dry hair is easily prone to breakage and for transitioning hair the line of demarcation is at a bigger risk. Make sure hair is well moisturized to retain strength.

Tip: To moisturize hair, lightly spray with water. Followed by a leave-in conditioner and seal with natural oil of choice.

7.     Trim Your Ends
On a regular basis you need to get rid of all those dead hair and split ends, it’s not like you were going to keep the damaged ends anyway. This prevents excessive breakage.

Tip: How often you want to trim depends on you. It can be often as every 6 weeks – 3 months, until you become a full natural.

8.     Protect Your Hair
Put your hair in protective styles sometimes. Choose styles that are simple to maintain and blend in both textures. Avoid styles that put too much tension on your temple and the nape of your neck. Always tie your hair up with a satin scarf or cap when sleeping, better still get a satin pillowcase.

Tip: Find the go-to transitioning style that blend the two very different textures. Examples of these styles are: Bantu knots and knot out, 2 strand twist and twist out, flat twists, flexi rods, braid out etc.
2 strand twist and twist out is my all time favorite.


Doing these things will not only give you a smoother transition but will prepare you for when you become a full blown natural.

Natural Hair Tip #5

June 21, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 0 Comments

Wrap your hair in a satin bonnet/cap or use a satin pillowcase to protect your hair.

This prevents pulling and breakage while sleeping. If you don’t have a satin cap, wrap your hair in a satin scarf.

Natural Hair Tip #4

June 14, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 0 Comments

Always begin detangling your hair from the tip.

DO NOT start detangling from the roots. It is more difficult and painful to detangle your roots when the ends are still tangled, this will also lead to losing more hair.

Cinnabuns Of Life!

June 10, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 2 Comments

The cinnabun hairdo seems to be growing on me. It’s one of the quickest, easiest and classy go to style for when I’m having a bad hair day or simply don’t know what to do with my fro.

I’ve been rocking these babies for 5 days now and plan to keep it on for a few more days. I’ve never had this style for this long before but so far, so good.

To achieve this look I used:

1. Eco styler gel 
2. Head band
3. Hair brush
4. Bobby pins

All I did was:

• Pack my hair up in a puff using the head band, smoothening out the front with eco styler gel and a brush.

• Took a little section of the puff and combed through to detangle.

• Rolled the tip of the section by finger coiling.

• Tuck down the tip and pin.

Repeat this process, section by section. Until the whole puff is tucked and pinned.

And voila! You've got a headful of cinnabuns!

Uhhmm...I think I loved  my first cinnabun hair more (opening picture). Had to take it down though and redo for this tutorial.

June Wash Day Routine!

June 06, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 0 Comments

Hi, there lovelies!

Remember my last hairdo?

Well, I rocked it for 3 weeks and a few days. Although it looked really rough by the third week, the “didi” style of braiding deserves credit because it kept its promise and lasted more than the normal style of braiding. I’ll definitely be trying it out again!
Hurray to the Nigerian style of braiding!

I finally took it down last weekend for a wash. My wash day was basically the same routine with the exception of a few tweaks, a much-needed trim and using some new products.

These are some of the new products I’ll be using:

1. Rinse out conditioner: Motions weightless detangling conditioner
2. Deep conditioner: Cantu deep treatment masque
3. Leave-in conditioner: Beautiful textures tangle taming leave-in conditioner

My first tweak was done in my pre-poo method. Some minutes after my hot oil treatment, I had this idea to add rinse out conditioner to my hair for extra conditioning and coating. I let it sit for almost 4 hours and it was amaze balls!!!
My hair was softer and less tangled while shampooing. This is a tweak I'm going to turn into a routine.

My second tweak was washing my hair in twists. After applying the conditioner for the pre-poo, I twisted the 6 sections of my hair just because I felt my hair would soak up all that pre-poo juice better this way and I've never washed my hair in twists before. I was definitely big on trying out the twist method.


I used the rinse out conditioner and further de-tangled next and rinsed.


 Then I trimmed in sections.

Next, I deep conditioned for 45 minutes, rinsed out and dried with a cotton shirt. Then added leave-in conditioner and oil in sections.


The next morning I styled in cinnabuns.